Elqueeness

rkadon was a small dimension with only one continent.
There were a lot of deserts and badlands, so there weren’t that many places that humans could live on.

If one were to compare it to earth with its 5 oceans and 6 continents, I would say it is about the size of 2 continents?

Since this was a small dimension, there weren’t many words that could correctly describe this place.

There was only one continent, so everyone used the same language. Also, the cultural life wasn’t that different either. The food and cloth were similar. Even the architecture and the outward appearance of the people didn’t differ too much.

Without any distinction between the East and West, there were only Caucasians living here.

Of course even if they were all Caucasian, each country had distinct characteristics. Since I was used to Asian faces, they all pretty much looked the same. (TLN: lol)

Even when I was alive on earth, I couldn’t tell the difference between an American or a French.(TLN: unless the french guy threw a baguette at my head, I won’t be able to either.) So why would it be different when I am here!

This caused me to not listen to Aleck’s explanation closely.

“The current continent has 3 empires and 10 small kingdoms. The Katars Empire and the Alfonze Empire have been feuding for the past 100 years. The other Empire is the Soltere Empire, which is neutral. Amongst the small kingdoms, 5 kingdoms formed a coalition, and they changed their name to the ‘Five Allied Nation’.”

The humans started many wars to obtain each other’s territories on this small mass of land.

In the beginning, towns that were considered small tribes started a continent war for about 50 years. Each of them started rapidly building their forces, and in the end they became kingdoms. Then they formed an empire.

This was how the first 5 empires were formed.
Recently, two of the empires went on a conquest war, but they collapsed. This caused them to fall into being small kingdoms. Currently, it was a situation where there were only 3 empire left.

The surprising thing about all these event is the fact that it was all concluded in 2000 years. If one thinks about the fact that Arkadon’s current age was 80000 years old, the humans had rapidly progressed in a short amount of time compared to the other races.

In reality, the race called ‘humans’ had appeared not too long ago. In the past, this dimension had elves and dragons as the sole beings with intelligence.

However, the number of elves and dragons were very small so it was hard to find them. On the other hand, the humans had enough numbers to occupy about half of the continent.

“Hmm? Then which country are we located in?”

“We are located in the inner mountain range of the frontier of the Soltere Empire.(TLN: mountain at the outer edges of Soltere Empire) We are very close to the borders of the Lady Kingdom. If we travel down towards the north-east, then the Amadeus tribe appears.”

“Amadeus tribe?”

“It is a small tribe made out of females that exists in the Lady Kingdom. Men are not welcomed, so only females can approach them. They are recognized as savage females compared to normal people.”

Heh-eh? I guess they are similar to the Amazons from the jungle.

It was too hard for me to accept it, so I nodded my head with a satisfied expression.

After I revealed my identity, Aleck and Isana’s companions(or people who looked like it) started crying bitterly as if they had no regret if they were struck down on the spot.

I was flustered by this so I asked them ‘What’s up’. As if they had just thought about what they had done to me, they started shouting at me to kill them.

In the case of Aleck, he took out his long-sword that was hanging from his waist and he tried to cut his own throat.

Fortunately, I was able to react instantly, and his attempt was stalled when I took the sword away. Did I almost witness someone’s head falling off?

Just thinking about it made me break into cold sweat. Just keep begging for forgiveness instead of trying to kill yourself!
Do I look like I have a bad personality?

The summoner Feliz tried to justify the person’s action to me, who was flustered, with a careful expression on his face.

“It is because of his honor as a knight. Our ways are very different from yours, a spirit. Don’t think too badly of us.”

“Knights? You guys were knights?”

“Yes…I believe so.”

If it is yes then it is yes. If it is no then it is no. What do you mean by ‘I believe so’?
I looked at the complicated expression of Feliz’s face, and I could guess that there is a reason why they couldn’t proudly state that they were knights. I didn’t interrogate them.

Afterwards, I required Aleck to explain about the state of the current continent. The condition was that I will forgive every transgression that was made against me. (TLN: El trying to erase the blemish on knight’s honor so he won’t try to kill himself)

“…only..you only want that?”

They looked at me with a dumbfounded expression as if they couldn’t understand it.
I pointed toward Isana, who was still peacefully asleep.

“After that guy made a contract, he fainted right away. I didn’t hear anything except his name. What I need the most right now is not your lives, but information about this world.”

“B..But…”

“I’ll be blunt. If you guys die in front of my eyes, then what will that solve?
Stop trying to make this Spirit King feel uncomfortable. Just do as I say, ok?”

“………”

The short conflict of opinions resulted in my victory.
After all is said and done, they probably don’t want to die in their prime. There wasn’t anything good to be had if they refused my offer.

Therefore everyone except Aleck, who was chosen to explain, surrounded me. It was a situation where they sat in a circle and listened to Aleck’s words.
Occasionally, they would say ‘No that isn’t it~’, and find fault with the explanation.

“That’s good. I understand. So~ Currently, there are 3 empires and an allied coalition. You are saying that the rest are small kingdoms? Moreover, the place we are at is considered to be the frontier of the Soltere empire?”

“Yes. That is correct. Soltere is the only one of the 3 empires that worship an evil god. They receive blessing from the temple of darkness.
Normally, the priests of the temple of darkness makes a contract with the demon race, and they borrow their strength to use their abilities. Therefore instead of healing using holy magic, they are more proficient in curses and destruction. This is why they are mostly alienated by the other empires and kingdoms.”

Oh oh. They make a contract with the demon race? This is the first time I heard about this. Which gods do the other empire worship?

I was curious, so I asked directly.

“Which god’s protection does the other empires receive?”

“The Katars empire has the goddess of Love and Light, Hermes. The Alphonse empire worship the god of Earth, You-el. However, these are the official state religion. It doesn’t mean there aren’t other gods either. We don’t ostracize others for worshiping other gods, so there are many temple that worship various gods.”

“Don’t tell me there is a temple for the god of punishment, El-wee-en?”

Aleck immediately nodded his head as if he didn’t even had to think about it.

“It formed not too long ago, but it does exist. They are unique in that the priests’ holy power are overpowering higher than the other temple’s priests.
They even exceed the Demon sect’s(Temple of Darkness) priest by a wide margin in terms of ability. We have no idea why. The Demon sect, who made contracts with demons, tries to avoid getting in a confrontation with the god of Punishment’s priests. Since the god of Punishment’s temple and the Demon sect is similar in nature, the god of Punishment’s temple is starting to earn more worshipers. However, the overall number of believers are small, so they are active only in limited regions.”

“………Haha…..”

I bet the demon race doesn’t want to cross El-wee-en, so they are probably thinking about their own safety. Currently in the Demon world, El-wee-en was known as a being more scarier then the god of the devils.

I swallowed my laugh, and I changed the topic by asking another question.

“Are the power of the 3 empires similar? Soltere is neutral, but the Alphonse and Kartars empires are on bad terms?”

“Ha Ha. That might be old news. Recently, the 10 year calamity caused the empires’ situation to change drastically.”

“ ……..? ”

The 10 years calamity changed the situation?
After seeing my quizzical look, Aleck cleared his throat and started continuing his explanation.

“Even in the past, the Kartars empire spent what could be considered half of the empire’s budget to foster magicians. They spared no expense.
For that reason, they were known as an independent magic empire.
And the Alphonse empire has the longest history in the continent. It was a land filled with the most relics and dungeons from the earlier periods. Scholars and adventurers frequently visited them. They also had a Forest of Death where the monsters appeared in high numbers, so numerous mercenaries and knights also visited. Ten years ago, the 3 empires were establishing a similar power base… During the 10 year calamity, the Katars empire’s magicians were mobilized and they were successful in making artificial rain. Currently, they built the highest base of power.”

“Heh-eh. Artificial rain.. Isn’t that amazing? What about the other countries?”

“Many had to invite the magicians of the Katars empire for the artificial rain. If not, they had to somehow purify the already diminished water to use it. To tell you the truth, I cannot believe that everything was recovered in the past couple month. Nature was really damaged….”

After Aleck leaked these words, the men sneakily sent resentful gazes towards me.
Maybe the people who lived here thought that I was playing around with the water?

The problem happened because of me, but I was also hurt in the process. In the end, I was in a rightful position.

Therefore, I tried to give a small excuse with an aggrieved expression.

” That is..I didn’t plan to do that.”

“Yeah? N, No.. We..we didn’t mean that. Of course, we are aware that it is god’s work to be in charge of nature. Previously, Isana-nim said that the gods do not control nature in this place. I remember him saying that it was the job of the Spirit Kings…”

“Isana said that?”

Ho-oh? He really knew about it? Be happy, Trowell!! (TLN:I think Trowell complained that no one knows its their job, not the gods)
There is a human here that knows that it is the Spirit King’s job to control Arkadon’s nature!

Aleck probably thought it was outrageous seeing me being surprised with round eyes.
He hesitatingly answered with an embarrassed expression.

“Mmmm.. He was looking over old manuscripts when he found such statements. That is why he held a grudge against you the most, Elqueeness-nim. Such a person was able to summon the water Spirit King, so I find it very ironic.. The saying, even if you know the world you might not know anything, seems to be correct.”

“………..”

That’s the situation. He has a grudge against me. That is why he had a rough reaction when he first summoned me.

He said ‘Why did you do it’. ‘Why would you do that’ at all… I threw a tempter tantrum, because I thought the severe physical exhaustion caused him to lose his mind. Now that I think about it, he was blaming me.

This world… Why did I destroy Arkadon’s nature.

Even if I told him it wasn’t my fault, in his perspective I had sinned against god and man. If I clarified my situation… Will he believe me? Will he be able to forgive me from the heart?

After clearing the bitter taste in my mouth, I looked at Isana’s face with an apologetic expression. Every time a light breeze would flutter his hair, I could see the water seal on his forehead.

How will he react when he wakes up and realized he had made a contract with me…. He’ll probably hate it?

However, the one who requested the contract was from Isana’s side. Unexpectedly, maybe he’ll get over it without any fuss. Maybe he has wicked intentions to work me hard after making the contract.

A sigh came out automatically. I don’t know why everything I do becomes tangled up. Maybe someone put a curse on me?

I’m probably the first Spirit King to worry if his contractor will hate him.
I shouldn’t have accepted the summoning, and I should have made a contract with a dragon later after waiting it out.

I was blind at the thought that I could immediately go out and play. I accepted the contract without looking forward and back. This is why Ifrit always tells me I am hopeless every time she sees me. I can’t blame her for that.

With a complicated expression, I stared at Isana without talking for a while. Aleck mus have thought that I was angry, so his complexion visibly changed. He hurriedly started saying words to defend him.

“He..he had no choice. Isana-nim has gone through a lot of inner struggles. He lost his precious subordinates, and he had to wander around place to place. It is natural for him to lament his own fate. Please don’t think bad about him. If he finds out it was a misunderstanding, then he’ll regret it immediately.”

I’m like this, because it isn’t a misunderstanding!

I couldn’t snap back at him with words, so I just nodded my head.

“Ha-ah.(TLN: sigh) Yeah… Well, if he does find out it is a mis.under.standing..”(TLN: He pauses each time he says the word. 오.해.란.걸. <-usually it’s just 오해란걸)

“What? What are you saying?”

“Never mind. Anyways, why did Isana enter into this mountain? Even though, there was a severely injured person yet you didn’t go see a doctor… Maybe you are being chased?”

“Huk..” (TLN:gasp)

It must have been a bulls eye. I smiled at Aleck, who was surprised as if he was stung by a needle.

He’s probably a gentleman who’ll have trouble lying throughout his life. Who is he going to fool when his expression reveals everything?

He had rough light brown colored hair, and it seems like he hadn’t bathed in couple days. Dirty water was flowing down his dirty skin, and he had on tattered cloths. Only his eyes shined brightly.

He had very panicked look as if his weak spot was pierced.

His figure really looked like someone, who would never dare to live after doing something wrong. I looked at him again with eyes that wanted an explanation.
Now~ Tell me the truth!

Since I’m Isana’s contractor, I have the right to know his situation~.

However, Aleck showed a hint of hesitation even after seeing my pressuring gaze. Does it mean that it is something he can’t carelessly speak about?
Maybe they started a rebellion?

His face had hardened into an expression of worry, so I spoke to him with a determined look.

“I’m not a human, but a spirit. Have you forgotten about that?”

“Ah!..That…That’s right. I apologize. It isn’t something we can carelessly divulge. I was afraid you would have a hard time with it, so I tried to hold back the important facts…
You are a spirit.. I forgot you are different from humans….”

“If you realized it now, then it’s fine. So tell me about it. What caused Isana to hide in this mountain? I feel like I have enough qualifications to be told your identities, and the entire circumstance. Or do you expect me to return to the spirit world and ask around about your business?”

“Huk, that is absurd! We really need you. Therefore, please don’t misunderstand us again.”

It must have shocked him when I said I would return to the Spirit World. Aleck and the surrounding people’s complexion turned blue, and they started calming me with panicked faces.

I didn’t mean to say I’ll dissolve the contract. I couldn’t have predicted that they’ll be taken aback so much. I swallowed the urge to clear my throat. It feels like I suddenly became the bad guy!

I was embarrassed, so I woodenly replied back while having a gruff face.

“So you’ll tell me about it?”

“Of course! I’ll explain everything.”

Ah ah. How much is he cursing me inside? Maybe he is comparing me to a child having a tantrum, while laughing inside.

Somehow my mental age seems to be getting younger, and this thought made me frown. He must have misunderstood that I was mad once again looking at my figure, so Aleck hurriedly unfurled his words.

“During the 10 year calamity, each country tried in their own way to obtain water. During this time, the magicians from the Kartars empire was able to show a cutting-edge performance.
Remember how I told you the story how they established themselves to become the most influential power?” (TLN: they leveraged artificial rain to gain power)

It was a story I heard not too long ago so I didn’t forget it. I passively nodded my head in affirmation.

“The Katars empire protected their empire through a marvelous method. Not only did they save their empire, but they also saved many countries.
The great Prosperity Majesty, the beautiful country of the saint – The other empire’s population called the current Katars empire with this nickname. On the opposite end, the emperor of Soltere is known as the Emperor of Misfortune.”

“Emperor…of Misfortune?”

I answered back with an incredulous expression, but Aleck could no longer continue his explanation.

At that moment, Isana who was asleep, started groaning and he started waking up.

The surprised Aleck got up in mid-explanation, and he started running toward Isana. I also did the same. In my head, the thoughts about the Emperor of Misfortune was forgotten completely.

 

Uughh….”

“Isana-nim!!! Isana-nim! Are you all right?”

All thoughts of Soltere’s Emperor of Misfortune disappeared from my mind.

“Oh… That’s a relief. I was so worried what about what might happen to you….”

The sheer radiance of the happiness he exhibited far outmatched that of when Kay was fully healed. Immediately after the news began to spread, people started to flock towards Isana.

Isana at this time was fully treated. Regardless of the fact that he had no bodily illnesses and was only waking up from a small nap, the excitement that they displayed was so great that it seemed almost exaggerated.

‘Without a doubt, that brat must be extremely important.”

While I muttered inwardly without regard to the surroundings, I approached Isana who was slowly being helped up by Aleck.

“Ung.. how noisy. Did something happ… W…Water.”

“Are you thirsty?

Hwaek

At that moment, it didn’t feel like it was solely my imagination when I thought that all pairs of eyes seemed to suddenly focus on me. Chet

Are they telling me to make the water?

As people continued to stare with an unexplainable expression, Isana became suspicious when everyone turned their heads, as if in unison, at the same direction. He followed their eyes to see what they were looking at and at that moment, our eyes met as he reeled back with an expression of shock.

“Who… Who are you?”

Tch. Look at this brat. Now he doesn’t even remember me?

As I watched him with tilt his head back and forth with a expression of a naïve child, a surge of irritation surged inside of me.

So instead of giving him a reply, without a word, I decided to make some water.

I thought that he would realize my identity when he saw my power.

But at that moment, someone hurriedly intervened.

-You cannot! It is beneath you to perform such a trivial task!

-Shameless humans! How dare you!! Please leave it to us my king. I will provide your contractor with water.

The “someone” who intervened was my one of my Naiads. It seemed that they were observing the situation from the start.

When they strongly opposed my decision to provide them water, I started at them puzzlingly.

“You guys will give Isana water?”

-That’s right, but the contractor has not fully awakened so he is currently unable to see us. My king, please distribute his mana to us.

-The Contractor’s mana is bountiful; there is no harm even if you were to give it to us.

“Hmm. Will it be alright?”

While I was thinking to myself, Isana seemed to have learned of what happened while he was unconscious from his men.

Not too long after, jumped up from his bed and shrieked..

“What? Elqueeness!!”

“Yes Isana-nim. Please calm down. If you suddenly move around like that…”

“My body’s fine! Anyways so you’re saying that person is Elqeeness? Absolutely absurd!! I was only trying to summon a regular spirit of water!!”

Felix! You told me that my natural affinity was currently lacking so conjuring a spirit is exceeding my limitations! Regardless of that, are you telling me that I summoned one of the Spirit Kings?
“You guys are all just talking nonsense! That guy is simply just tricking you!”

After hearing Isana’s jabbering and his attitude, the people seemed at first, slightly lost.

But as the brat continued to stubbornly insist that they were being fooled, the suspicious glint in their eyes slowly became stronger.

Finally they started to look at me like I was a con artist.

Especially Aleck who begged the most for forgiveness, and who explained to me about this land showed extreme amounts of rage towards me.

If left alone, it seemed as if flames would erupt from his eyes.

How absurd. How can people who are that gullible live in this dangerous world?

I took a step towards Isana while sighing.

From my movement, the people who were next to me became alert and their hands slowly crept to the swords in their waist. Of course, I just ignored them.

I stared at the brat whose face was rigid with nervousness.

“The one who can’t seem to understand the situation is you”

“Wha.. What?”

“Didn’t you say you were thirsty? All actions have consequences in their shadows. Although this might tire you out, withhold it. You’ll have to become accustomed to this after all.”

“Just what are you..? Ack!!”

“Isana-nim!!!”

Without answering, I absorbed his mana and distributed to my Naiads.

Because he suddenly lost mana he suddenly staggered. His men cried out with shock but that did not last long

That was because… The sight of numerous naiads emerging from the air became clearly visible to their eyes.

“Huk! Th…Thats?”

“What in the world?”

The lower half of the body was that of a fish while the upper torso was human. It was the first time they had ever seen such a marvel and they were of course, shocked beyond belief.

It was the same even more Isana.

Feeling the strain of the mana loss, the kid who was before staggering looked blankly with shock as one of the naiads delivered water for him.

The expression that once harbored distrust and resentment when he first saw me changed to one of disbelief and seemed to ask ‘who is this guy?’ With a smile, I answered his question.

“They are lower-class water spirits called naiads. But to be shocked by only this left, just how on earth did you summon me?

“Truly odd.”

“Na..Naiads? You’re… Are you a Spirit Summoner?”

Foolish brat!! The Water Spirit Summoner is you! Didn’t you just see me use your mana to summon the Naiads to this world? Huh???

Please just understand the situation already!

At this moment, the people with dazed expression all stared back at Isana.

They finally realized that the problem wasn’t me but  the child.

As if overwhelmed by the sudden gazes, the brat mumbled “What… What’s wrong?”

His appearance was so pathetic that even I as a spirit felt a headache!  Hey I learned something new…
At this moment, I finally felt that it was appropriate for me to set our relationships.

‘I never expected that he would start complaining the moment he woke up… Just what is this?’

As I grumbled inwardly at the moment, I lent him my hand towards the guy who gave me a below satisfactory greeting when he first summoned me.

“I am the Water Spirit King Elqueeness. I came here after I answered your call, from now on, our contract is now complete.

“It’s too late for you to act as if you’re clueless. From now on, let’s get along.”

“Ah? Ah..It feels like I’m dreaming…”

“As I was saying this isn’t a dream!!! What, you don’t want me to make a contract with you? Should I nullify it? I’ll say this now but the person who requested the contract was you.”

For some reason, if I were to answer in a kindly fashion, I felt like I would immediately receive resentment so I was bluntly getting straight to the point

However even with the change of attitude, he did not show any signs of interest as he blankly stared at me without saying a single word.

With a dazed expression, he started mumbling to himself.

“I.. I actually summoned Elqueeness? Me?”

“What?”

“Anwer me! If I had summoned you earlier, would my father not have died?

“What are you saying?”

Surprised at the sudden changed, I slowly backtracked. However the brat refused to listen.

As if he had gone insane, he endlessly started to mumble and asked the same question over and over again.

“1 year… No one month, if I just had tried to summon you one month ago, could things have not happened like that? What about 5 years ago? Yes.. yes that’s right, what would it have been like if I summoned you 10 years ago?

If I did then could our empire have survived the calamity?

Why did I not stupidly even think about attempting to summon a water spirit earlier! Why now!”

“Isana?”

He was crying.  Tears dribbled out agonizingly from his blue eyes like a stream of water.

While crying without any awareness of his surroundings, he suddenly glared at me.

“You say you are the Water Spirit King Elqueeness? Should I tell you what means?!”

“Isana-nim!! Ack..”

“Stupid buffoons! You fools couldn’t even protect your fathers and lost both honor and our wealth!

Now you say that you want to gain back the past glory and use that as a excuse to prolong your lives! Dimwits! I curse you Elqueeness! However I need you, and as much as I hate you, I hate myself even more…..”

I lost my words. In this situation, just what should I say?

Looking around the floor that was covered in tears, I struggled to contain the sigh that automatically threatened to come out.

You curse me? But yet you need me… you…. Are you a psycho?

Aaaa… I felt ashamed that I couldn’t think of any answers

At his sudden outbursts, I sent back the Naiads who were shifting uncomfortably and looked at the brat in resignation.

“So what? What is it that you desire?”

“….What?”

“What do you want. Do you dislike me? Then should I terminate the contract?”

As if shocked by my bluntness, the surrounding people seemed shocked by my words as their faces turned white.

My words seemed to have the opposite effect on Isana however, is his face gradually turned red and started to glare at me.

“Are you trying to avoid your own mistakes?”

“Mistakes?”

“The tragedy that occurred was because of you. Everything bad that has happened is your due! But you arrogantly say that you’re leaving? You dare say that you’ll terminate the contract!

… At this moment, even if my heart was good, I could no longer just stand by and listen.

I asked coldly while eyeing him.

“Just what crime against you are you saying that I committed? Apologies but I still have no idea what kind of situation you are stuck in so I can’t make any decisions.

It’s you who shouldn’t so easily put the blame on someone else and actually start explaining things to me.”

“YOU!! There was no water! It was because of that everything went wrong!

The one who governs water is the Water Spirit King, isn’t that right? I read that in a ancient text!

The one who controls water is Elqueeness!”

“Ha~. You, are you an idiot?”

“What?”

Seeing the Isana who was spouting out nonsense, I wanted to give him a smack and hope that would put his mind back on track.

The guys around the brat started to say ‘It’s a misunderstanding, it’s not the Spirit King but the God who controls rain’ but because of that, I felt even more irritated.

Frustrated beyond belief, I shouted while pulling my hair, “All of you, if you don’t know anything, then just shut up!”

“Yes, you’re right. The one who controls water is me. So what?”

“What do you mean what?”

“Are you trying to say that I was so I was fooling around? Is that what you are assuming?”

If I was neglecting my duties and ignoring the fact that not a drop of rain was produced in this realm for years, do you think that the other Spirit Kings would have just watched and let it slide?

Is that what you so believe?”

As if he hadn’t thought of the existence of the other Spirit Kings, his eyes went round and looked taken aback.

However that was only momentarily. As if trying to find other excuses to support his obstinate self, he shook his head and went on another rant.

“B.But It is said that Elqueeness is the strongest among the Spirit Kings. The other Spirit Kings wouldn’t be able to intervene….

“Are you crazy? Spirit Kings are equal. I am neither stronger nor weaker than the other Kings.  From the start, the ones that created such a tale were you humans. Isn’t that right?
Furthermore, if this place falls then the Spirit Realm isn’t safe either.

So why would I do something like that? Do I look like a suicidal?”
“But…”

“Baloney! I’ll make it clear to you, the people who have been harmed isn’t just only you but myself.

If you want to be resentful then be resentful at the right thing!”

Just why I have to say this to the first human who summoned me…

Ugh. This is irritating!

“…….”

A silence resumed

Seeing the me who was panting with anger, Isana loosened his shoulders like a puppet whose strings were cut.

Then he gave a self mocking smile and covered his face with his hands,

In the end he couldn’t stop the flow of tears and ended up spitting them out once again.

Although a 16 year old sobbing tears is a sorry sight, his back seemed almost too miserable.

Suddenly I felt that he was pitiable.

It seemed that the others felt the same way

All the faces of the people who watched him had looks of pity

An  unknown amount of time went by. As if trying to empty all the tears at this opportunity, he cried and cried and finally, as if his self control returned, he opened his mouth.

“Then… Is it me that misunderstood? This calamity wasn’t caused by the spirit king?”
Hah~ this guy. He seems to be unable to believe people’s… I mean Spirit King’s words.

Frustration rose once again, but after seeing Isana’s serious expression, I could only nod silently

As if he had finally understood, he depressingly lowered his end and after a long period of hesitation, he said, “I don’t want to believe it.”

“What? You’re really something else!”

Are you mocking me? But my words of anger were slower then Isana’s next line.

“I needed something I can hate.

That was the only way I could live.. But now if not you.. who can I push the burden to? My dead father perhaps?

Or perhaps my uncle?”

It was as if he gave up on life seeing his muttering.

Seeing this, I couldn’t help but frown. I gathered the water and shot it at Isana’s head.

Splash

“!!!”

“Huk. Isana-nim”

That was… absolutely refreshing. I only gathered the cold attribute on purpose.

At the sudden assault, I asked after seeing the dumbfounded expression on his face.”

“Did you wake up from your dream?”

“….?”

“To me it seems like the one avoiding responsibility is on your end.

If you have time to resent others, then look for better ways of survival. Have you looked at the mirror? It’s almost embarrassing for me to see you like this.”

“ …….. ”

Although mirrors were a common place at Earth, in Arkadon, glass was a luxury item more valuable then gold.

Thinking that there would be no way that they wouldn’t possess such a thing, I proudly snorted.

Like a adult lecturing a child, I continued to talk.

“Although I too am someone who sometimes digs the dirt by myself, but you, you’re on a whole new level.

And if you realized you misunderstood, shouldn’t you give an apology first?

Have you been blaming others when you can’t even do something like that?”

“No..That’s not it. I’m sorry.. I was just….”

“Fine. Since I received an apology I’ll let that go. So now, give me a detailed explanation on what’s going on. I have to know at least a hint of the problem so I can think of a solution.

If you haven’t mistaken me for Trowell

Even if I wondered for a 100 days it would be no use so tell me everything. Now, from where will you start?”

 

”……… ”

Was I too harsh?

The surrounding humans seemed to have lost their words and were staring absentmindedly at space.

Among them, as if he was afraid I wouldn’t accept his apology, Isana wore an anxious expression and struggled to open his mouth.

“Are… are you not going to get angry? Even after what I said to you?…”

“Its fine, I’m used to that level of criticism.” (TLN: Poor guy L)

When he received beatings from his father and brothers in the past while he was still Kang-Jee-Hoon, they said words to him in such a way that made Isana’s outburst pale in comparison

Although he hated being cursed at without even knowing the reasons, he was not petty enough with something of that level. Furthermore he even got an apology, what good would it do to aggravate his emotions?

After resolving the issue in such a simple matter, I showed a softer expression while asking for further explanation about their crisis.

That responsibility once again fell to Aleck who had taught him from the start about the history of this dimension.

He had shot his hand up and volunteered in Isana’s stead who was still hesitant.

“I will tell you Elqueeness-nim.  I would like to explain further on some parts that I have not covered.”

“Oh is that right?  I have no problems as long as I can hear an explanation…”

“Yes. Since Isana-nim seems too exhausted, I will speak in his stead. But first Elqueeness-nim, do you remember what Isana’s family name is?”

Huh? How strange, why is he suddenly asking that?

Although it was an abrupt question, it wasn’t something that I couldn’t answer so I only silently nodded my head.

“Isana Lance Solte… Am I correct?”

“That is correct. Then do you also remember which country we are currently residing in?”

“Hmm? Aren’t you looking down on a Spirit King’s memory too much? We are in Soltere Empire…. Huh? Soltere? Now that I think about it, it’s similar to Isana’s family name.”

What is this? Is it okay if you use a country’s name to your family name? Or is it that the country’s aristocrats all have the family name of Solte?

When Isana saw my surprise at the news, his famous turned red from embarrassment and lowered his head.  Aleck, as if applauding my answer nodded his head.

“That’s right. I don’t know if Spirit Kings know about human affairs, but in this continent, the only people who could use that surname are the nobles, aristocrats, and royalties.

Isana-nim is someone who carries the blood of the imperial family.”

“I…Is that so?”

I suspected that he was going to be some kind of aristocrat but I never imagined that he would be from the imperial family. So would that make him an imperial prince?

Then it would make sense that Aleck and the others were knights. However, there was still one point that was troubling me…

‘Why is someone who is a prince here acting like a beggar?
Although his natural looks weren’t bad, seeing those dirty clothes and the hair that was covered in dirt, no matter how hard I tried, I could not get a princely vibe from him

As if he had been starving for days, his rough and damaged skin seemed far too tight on his body. Overall he was in a terrible condition.

Seeing my bewildered expression, Aleck nodded as if he could understand my disbelief.

“There’s a reason why Isana-nim became like this. Although this might be difficult for a Spirit King such as yourself to understand….”

“Hmm… Was the cause of this perhaps the calamity 10 years ago? Now that I think about it, you said that the ruler of Soltere is called the Emperor of Misfortune…

If Isana carries the imperial bloodline, then he definitely must have a connection with the Emperor.”

“…That’s right.”

When Aleck started to earnestly explain, I as the person who was listening couldn’t help but drop my mouth in shock.

After the calamity continued for 7 years, all the crops and grains dried out and what was once the ocean and the river transformed into a dried wasteland.

By this time, people were dying in the tens of thousands.

The Empire’s Emperor, ‘Kaeel-Lance-Solt’ could no longer tolerate the sufferings of his people. In order to withstand the calamity, he had no choice but to ask the Church to beg the Dark God to give them aid and make a contract with the Devil. The Emperor asked the Dark God for the cause and solution to the calamity.

The emperor’s younger brother, Archduke ‘Yura Lance Solt’ was the one controlling the Dark God Church.

The Emperor had requested aid from the Oracle.

“The Oracle is not someone who shows himself often. Even His Majesty did not have any optimistic hopes.

But under the stress of the calamity that showed no signs of easing, the Emperor in his frustration could do nothing but grasp at whatever straw was left for him. It seemed he wanted to at least try to attempt something to save his people.

But against all expectations, not even a day after the request was sent out, the Oracle answered the Emperor’s call.

Could it have been that the Dark God was also worried about the calamity that had fallen on Arkandon?

All citizens finally let out sighs of relief and believed that the 7 year calamity would finally end and eagerly awaited the Oracle’s words.

But what no one could have foreseen were the contents of Oracle’s words…

“The calamity is retribution against the misdeeds done by the current Emperor? So you’re saying that the oracle claimed that only by his death can he atone for his crimes and end the disaster?

Aleck could only nod at my disbelief.

“The Oracle is the only person who can receive divine messages from God. So there is no way for us to know the exact message.

But the Oracle only spoke a portion of the truth and turned all blame onto the Emperor.

The people in turn, went mad with rage.”

[The Burning Rage Of God That Stole The Tears of Heaven Is Emperor’s retribution. One Year of his Crimes Must Be Punished by Exchanging 10 Years Worth of Suffering By the People. Only by his death can we be freed from his sins]

Disturbed beyond belief, I raised my hand to interrupt.

“H…Hold on. The one you call the Oracle… Is he authentic? How could the people have so easily believed his words?”

“Because he is the oracle. His words are the message of God. How could they not have believed it?

Furthermore, all the people cared about was ending the calamity and lost all sense of logical reason.

The drought had occurred for far too long, they lost all rationality.

That is why they were so easily able to betray the very Emperor that they had once deemed the greatest in history.”

“Kck…”

Hearing Aleck retell the tragedy, Isana went white as he bit his lip till it bled.

Seeing this, although I already knew the answer, I could only help but ask.

“So… What happened?”

Did… Did the Emperor really die like that?

It was as I expected.  Aleck’s face darkened as he replied with a bitter smile.

“…The people already had turned their backs on the Emperor,

The Church that was the most influential after the Emperor, insisted on spreading the words of the Oracle and oppressed the Emperor…

The Emperor himself had no other paths. So in the end, he took all responsibility and was executed two months ago.”

“!!!”

Jesus Christ… Two months ago? That was the time I was born!

As if he had read my thoughts, Isana who was silently listening continued on with Aleck’s story.

“Right after the Emperor’s death, nature started to recover. Rain fell, the water cleared, the air became fresh.

So the people who once supported the Emperor and opposed the Oracle’s words all began to side with the Dark Church.

“How could this have happened? The Emperor loved the people more than anyone else.

He is someone who would distribute his own water to the people so that they could have even a moment’s relief! So HOW! How could they!!”

“Isana-nim…”

“I see… So that is why he is called the Emperor of Misfortune.”

If Isana is the imperial prince then that means the Emperor that was executed was his father.

Although I have never felt the thing called love from my family, I too would have been tormented by misery if a person I had loved were to die a dog’s death.

I definitely wouldn’t be able to keep calm.

It wouldn’t have been strange even if he poured his resentment towards one person.

I think I could understand why that black arrow was aimed at me.

To think that they would execute the ruler because of something so nonsensical, it is hard to imagine that happening in a democratic state.

Is this why they say that the Medieval Ages were frightening?

As I mumbled to myself wearing a dumbfounded expression, Aleck quickly intervened.

“Ah, although that’s also correct, the title ‘Emperor of Misfortune’ actually belongs to Isana-nim…”

“….What?”

Now kind of crap is this now?

Unable to understand, I looked at Isana who blushed and looked away… What are you embarrassed about?

The one who answered my question was Felix who was till now, silently listening to our conversation.

Although he didn’t hide his sad, pitiful, and lonely expression he wore on his face, he proudly indicated at Isana.

“Before the previous Emperor passed away, the Emperor passed on his throne to his son who was the crown prince.

The Emperor claimed that the calamity was solely his fault and his sin only. The misfortune wasn’t something that would be passed on by blood. In other words, he crowned ‘Isana Lance Solt” as the new Emperor of Soltere Empire.”

“!!”

What!?

At that moment, the only thing that came up from my mind was, ‘Why is the Emperor living in this ditch”

Unable to recollect myself from the shock, no words came out and I could only stare stupidly at Isana.

Side note: Somewhere in a different dimension

“Hmmm… No wonder,” said El-Wee-En

‘Hah he’s definitely worthy of being my son! His first contractor is an Emperor! Not only does he look like me but also has my talent’

Sidenote: Back to Arkandon!

Just what part of him looks like an Emperor!

As if my thoughts were too obvious, they looked around at each other embarrassed and tried to avoid my gaze.

Finally Felix continued on while looking ashamed.

“As..As I though, it’s hard to believe right? Even though we call ourselves the Emperor’s Knights… .”

“S-so… as you may have noticed we haven’t eaten for three days, you can’t differentiate between our clothes and rags. We threw away all valuables because they would be too eye catching… Sigh, even if you can’t believe us, there isn’t anything we can say to argue.”

“Our number was far greater in the past, after all we are the Emperor’s royal guards under his direct command. But our men died off from starvation and injuries,

All that’s left is the twelve of us.”

“We thought that we would soon be eleven since we lost all hope for Kay’s survival until you saved him”

“ ……. ”

Kay… You mean the fellow who I healed?

Now that I thought about it, even though his wounds were serious, there wasn’t any proper medical gear and their own method of treatments was yelling in hopes that he would wake up from the noise.

As if remembering their dead comrades, the atmosphere turned darker by another degree.

While I was once again, stunned into silence without knowing what to say next, Isana gloomily broke the silence.

“If it wasn’t for me, all of them including Kay would never have been killed or have gotten hurt. It’s because they’re serving a worthless lord that they are suffering.”

“T…That’s! That is absolutely wrong Isana-nim. It’s not your fault Your Majesty.  All of this is because of that treacherous Archduke Yura!”

“That’s right! The insult and humiliation we received, our comrades wrongful deaths, I swear I will have him repay with his life!

We will always be by your side till the end, please do not give up!”

“We will forever live our lives with you

Our lives are yours!”

…..

If you were to ignore the rags they wore and the dirt that covered them, this would have been quite the sight to see.

Instead of seeing the magnificence of pure golden loyalty, all I could see were big beggars crying over a little beggar.

I just couldn’t feel anything inside.

I could only imagine what could have happened to have forced an Emperor to this state.

Although his father’s life legacy had already ended, it seemed that Isana stilled carried the tragedy on his back.

I said down next to Isana.

“When you say Yura, isn’t he the one you called your uncle? Did he perhaps aim for the throne and is trying to assassinate you?”

“Huh?”

“Isn’t that right? When the ruler is too young, someone else rules in his stead till the Emperor comes of age, I believe that’s called a regent.”

I’m pretty sure I’ve read this somewhere in books or on K-Dramas.

During the process, the regent would get infatuated with power and try to push out the rightful King and ascend the throne himself. This was a common place throughout history.

No matter how many times I look at Isana, he definitely a teen. It wouldn’t have been strange if a regent took power in his stead.

Isana slightly nodded at my question.
“That’s right.  My uncle was supposed to reign in my place till two years before I become an adult.

After my father’s death, the only person that I felt that I could trust would be my uncle but…

I never would have expected that he would drive me out.”

As I thought.

So he lives in the dirt because he was forced to leave the palace with only a few guards.  From how they have been hiding in the mountains, they are definitely still being chased…

As long as this kid’s alive, Yura will never be able to become the emperor. Isana will have to live his life hiding from danger.

Drat. I made a contract with a living headache. While I was cursing myself, the knights started to shout out with excitement.

“The Archduke will one day pay for his sins. How dare he betray the Emperor who united and pacified the Soltere Empire!

God will never forgive him!”

“Those lying piece of Church scums! That prophecy is definitely a lie! It was the Archdukes trap,

We’ve been playing all this time in his hands!!!”

“How can we even imagine the dead emperor’s resentment… I don’t think his spirit will ever rest in peace, we must avenge him!”

…Sorry to interrupt but the past Emperor has probably already been safely escorted by the grim reapers.

By now he may have already crossed the netherworld and have been given a chance for reincarnation.

 

lthough I wanted to explain to them, I forced my words back down after seeing their relentless vigor. I did not wish to accidently further fan the flames.

After the men finally calmed down, Isana began to explain his story.

“The first attempt was a perfectly timed assassination when my knights were away for training. But luckily I managed to survive.

But that was just the beginning.

The next attempt was by putting poison in my meals. I had tolerance to poisons so they weren’t as effective. Perhaps because he grew impatient of the repeated failures, the Archduke gathered soldiers and staged a coup d’état and attempted to kill me at late night.”

“Hmm.”

“Fortunately, Aleck noticed their strange movements and made plans beforehand for my escape.

However, during the plan, half of my men were killed or wounded. I was powerless to do anything. Just what is the point in me being the Emperor?!

As he mumbled words of self-blame, I could feel the resentment he had towards himself. Ashamed, he seemed to see himself as powerless and pathetic.

He perhaps would have rather died back in the palace rather than see his men cut down right in front of his eyes.

Seeing his blue eyes filled with despair, I awkwardly asked him.

“Do you have any thoughts on retaking the imperial city? You are the Emperor after all.

Can’t you gather the troops to arrest your uncle for staging a coup?”

“Impossible. That’s impossible.”

“Huh?”

As if he noticed my questioning glance, one of the knights replied in Isana’s stead.

“The Emperor has no power in the palace. That sly Archduke picked off the ministers one by one and brought them all to his side.

Everyone in the palace that has significant power has already joined the Archduke.

All the Emperor has is us, the Royal Knights. But we alone cannot retake the palace. We simply lack the power to do so.”

“Uhh… Isana, what were you doing while things were turning this badly? Why didn’t you stop your uncle?”

No matter how carefully or how secretly the Archduke was carrying out his plans. Isana or anyone of his knights should have gotten some understanding of what was going on. Why was he ignoring the bold actions of the Archduke that were happening right in front of his eyes?

As if my question was a fastfall to the gut, Isana grimaced and bit his lip.

Then an angry voice resounded in the hall.

“I hated them. I didn’t care or think it would matter even if they were to betray me.”

“What?”

“I was too angry about the death of the late Emperor. He was everything to me.

I resented the people who only watched in the sidelines and let him die. Restraining myself from doing anything rash made up most of my day.

My hate for them was unbearable.

It wasn’t that I was ignoring them or that I didn’t know. I just didn’t care.

I know better than anyone now that what I did was an error. It’s fine if you think I’m pathetic.”

“……. ”

It wouldn’t be anything strange to feel fury when someone you loved and respected were to die.

Especially for Isana who was young, controlling his feelings and preventing them from influencing his judgments would be difficult.

‘I… am the Emperor. I am the one who rules over the vast domain of Soltere.

The fact that I was too young, the fact that I lost my loved one, they are all just excuses.

Before I am just a single person, I should have realized what it meant to be the Emperor. Because I couldn’t do that, many innocent people lost their lives.

I could only repeatedly hate myself because of that….

A Spirit King like you, can you understand my feelings? All the spirits in the world serve under you so in fact, you are a ruler like me.”

“P… Perhaps?”

Although I am a Spirit King, all I really know is that my position is high in the Spirit Hierarchy. I knew next to nothing about the responsibilities that follows my position nor did I ever need any self-awareness as a King.

As if having noticed my doubt, Sea-Cue-El spoke in a dignified voice.

-You need not worry about such trivial matters. Your existence alone brings balance to the world,

You are taking responsibility of all the Spirits by that alone.

All your responsibilities were already fulfilled when you were reborn.

“Ahh… I see.  Well I do feel somewhat bitter since my only role is to live….

“Huh? Who are you talking to?”

Hold on, can they not see Sea-Cue-El?

Although I could reveal him to the outside world if I were to use Isana’s Mana, but I had high doubts that Isana who looked as if he was about to break down will be able to endure the strain so I could only reply helplessly.

“Ah, Sea-Cue-El is right next to me.”

“Sea-Cue-El?  Are you talking about the Superior Spirit? How come I can’t see him?”

“That’s because you have not yet ‘Summoned’ him. If you do not expend mana, Spirits are unable to take physical form in the human world

Although you could also summon Sea-Cue-El since you are my contractor….

But strangely your Mana is not enough. Summoning the Naiads alone is a challenge.”

“I-Is that so? Hah… For some reason, I still can’t believe you’re the spirit king…

No.. Not like that.. But the fact that I made a contract with you…. This isn’t a dream right?”

The kid who was talking this and that about Spirit Kings suddenly looked at me and blushed crimson red. In fact, I felt embarrassed just looking at him.

Finally the dreary atmosphere started to brighten and the expression of the knights grew more natural.

They looked at me with expressions of both admiration and longing.

“You are truly amazing Isana-nim! You are the first human to have ever contracted the Spirit King of water.

Your name will forever be remembered in the Spirit World!”

“Because the name Elqueeness is like the cloud in the sky, something that is impossible to reach, we have little knowledge regarding you. Now that I seeing you with my own two eyes, I could feel the mighty power you possess!

Furthermore no one can possibly follow your elegance! At first I thought a goddess had descended!”

(TLN: And so it begins)

“Cough… Go…Goddess????”

Why of all things to compare me to, why a goddess?

But the most shocking thing came after. As if they felt strange after seeing my disturbed expression, they started to explain to me one at a time.

“Huh?  Apologizes but…. aren’t you a female Elqueeness-nim? (TLN: POW, Bombs Away!)

“Hm? I also thought that Elqueeness-nim was a girl… Isn’t that right Isana-nim?”

Nod nod.

“!!!”

Is there something wrong with their eyes? How could they think that I’m a girl even after seeing my flat chest!

While I was shocked speechless, as if seeing this as a fantastic opportunity, Felix proudly explained.

“Tsk Tsk, what rude remarks! Spirits have no gender.

If you had the slightest interest in Spirits, you should have known this, do you perhaps not know?”

“Huh? Seriously? So Elqueeness-nim is sexless??”

“Right, All Spirit-Kings throughout history have been genderless, people seem to classify them as male or female based solely on their appearance.

So to be specific, Elqueeness-nim simply looks like a girl, but she’s not a girl in human terms….”

“Baloney! What garbage are you sprouting you buffoon!! I’m a man!!!”

Feeling betrayed by Felix who I started to trust when he first opened his mouth, I felt like crying inside.

But these rotten jerks didn’t seem very apologetic.

In fact, they seemed even more shocked then I was.

“No way. That’s a man with that kind of face? Then I wonder what would be classified as females?”

“What terrible luck. I fell in love at first sight! A Man!!!! Did I perhaps swing that way?”

“This is impossible… This has to be a scam~!!”

“ !!! ”

Th…These ignorant son of a guns!

Splash!

“Ack!~~~~

Unable to restrain myself, I ended up throwing a tub of water at every person present.

But as if not knowing any fear, even after looking like wet rats they couldn’t seem to come back to reality and had eyes full of mistrust while muttering to themselves.

“See look~ just by looking at the figurealone, can’t you see that she’s female? I refuse to believe that’s a guy with that kind of face.”

“Kck…. I thought he was a sexy beauty…. A man… NO! He’s always going to be a girl in my mind!”

“The fact that he’s a man with that kind of face is like an impossible challenge for all men… I don’t want to admit this!”

“ …….. ”

Bloody hell…. I give up. While trying to convince those idiots I’ll die first.

So I decided to just solemnly ignore them and turned around towards Isana.

It seemed that he too was evaluating me but unable to say anything in fear of future troubles.

Seeing him like this, I unconsciously began grinding my teeth while maintaining a apathetic expression with all my might.

“So? What are you going to do now?”

“Huh?”

As if dazed by the sudden question, Isana looked clueless as his eyes turned into circles.

No matter what angle I look at him from, I can’t see him as a Emperor.
“You said you’re the Emperor. If you were kicked out of the Imperial Palace shouldn’t you be deciding what to do from now on? You do want to return don’t you?”

“B…But. I don’t know what exactly my uncle did but he framed me and my Royal Knights with treason and put a bounty on our heads. I can’t go to any kind of civilization.”

What? It was possible to target the Emperor with treason?

Hmm I guess it is possible if he were to betray the Empire to another power or if he didn’t have any legitimate claims to the throne….

Hah… If I knew this would happen I would’ve paid attention during history class when I was still Kang-Jee-Hoon.

“Even if that’s the case, how long are you going to live like this. You don’t even have food to eat. Are you just going to starve to death?”

“That… That..”

“Ugh… Frustrating kid. If you have no interest then you won’t even notice even if the world were to turn into wall paper. (TLN:Korean idiom)

Do you think that finding Mee-Ahs are difficult for no reason? (TLN: Mee-Ah means Missing Children.)”

“W..Wallpaper? Mee-Ahs? What’s that.

“There’s something like that. Anyways no matter what you decide to do I will help you. First let’s go down. I feel like you’re going to collapse at this rate.”

Although they were words spoken with indifference, the light within the eyes of the Knights changed.

“That’s right! Your Majesty! We currently have the Spirit King Elqueeness-nim!

With him we could expel that traitorous Archduke and reclaim the throne!!”

“YES! How about we just storm the palace?

If the public learns that you are Elqueeness-nim’s contractor, their hearts will definitely change!”

But Isana seemed to have different thoughts.

With a darkening expression, Isana opened his mouth.

“I too wish to return to the palace as soon as possible. But I have already lost the hearts of te people.

I’ve already been labeled as the Emperor who fell into despair and neglected his duties.

Although I may be able to reclaim the Imperial city by force, it won’t be easy to reclaim their hearts.”

After his father’s death,

Isana had no involvement in state affairs.

The duties of the Emperor fell upon his uncle, the regent. He had taken an indifferent attitude towards all matters of the Empire.

Although his reign only lasted for a month, it was enough time for the people to lose their trusts towards their ruler.

Especially since the difference between him and Archduke Yura who governed wisely was like heaven and earth, Isana’s influence became weaker and weaker.

The end result was losing everything and being chased like a dog, unable to return to his home.

 

eeing Isana mumbling with a bitter smile, The Knights shouted in grief.

“Khck. That’s not true Your Majesty! You were unable to focus on the matters of the state because you were mourning the past Emperor.

Just who would be fine after that tragedy? I’m certain that the people will understand your heart!

“That’s we want to think.”

In reality, I had no awareness of the lifestyles of my people and how they fared; I didn’t know anything about the foreign influences that were affecting Soltere. I may have been the Emperor, but I was too green.

Even if I were to return to the Imperial city, I doubt there will be anything I can do. That’s something that I myself cannot forgive.

“Your Majesty…”

The Knights awkwardly glanced at each other without knowing what to say. As the extended silence went on, they grew increasingly nervous.

If Iffrit or El-Wee-En were here then they would say without a doubt ‘Than just get rid of the Imperial throne’.

Inwardly chuckling to myself, I spoke to the stiff Knights who were only staring at their feet.

“If you have realized all that, then isn’t it fine?”

“Hmm?”

“You said it yourself just now. You didn’t know how your people lived or how the other foreign nations saw your country.

That even if you were to return to the Imperial city, there would be nothing for you to do.

Then doesn’t that mean that you can find those things out now? Rather then living your entire life in ignorance, isn’t it better if you were to go out and learn?

“B…But..”

“I believe that’s a great idea. If you just have the desire to learn, you will definitely do well

Is there anything special about the lives of the people?

They probably eat less and wear then you when you were the Emperor. I think that’s the only difference. As long as you don’t boast your wealth, I’m pretty sure you and the people will get along.

Ah although things might be different then Korea.”
“Korea?”

“There’s something like that”

Although I spoke vaguely, they did not show any signs of curiosity and turned their attention towards something else.

As if they were pondering over the meaning of my words, their faces grew more and more determined.

But I highly doubt that these guys actually understand what I meant. I wonder whether Isana will be able to understand.

But before I could say ‘Kidding!’,

Isana wearing a face that was the very definition of determination jumped out of his seat. Seeing this, I swallowed back my words before it got past my windpipe.

“I will visit Elder Brother Ka-Well”

“Huh?”

What’s this about an Elder Brother?

As if I wasn’t the only person surprised by his sudden decision, all the surrounding Knights stared at Isana with a stupefied expression.

The first to recover was the ever calmest Aleck

“When you say Ka-Well…. Do you mean your majesty’s cousin??”

“He’s an extended family member from my mother’s side. He inherited his titles and lands from my mother’s family, and is currently a Marquis. After the coronation, I wasn’t able to meet him because of pressing issues… No matter what, I think it’s best to start by meeting him.”

“But your majesty, what about the Imperial city? Isn’t Marquis Ka-Well in the opposite direction as the Royal Capital? As time passes the Archduke’s influence will only get stronger.”

“I know. But if we charge the Capital in this state we are at risk of a counterattack. We don’t have enough people. My uncle has already framed as traitors. It will be difficult to make it out alive.

“But we have Elqueeness-nim!”

Isana’s eyes seemed to flicker in response to the desperation. But he raised his head and hardened his heart. He looked at the panicking Knight and firmly said,

“You’re right. My contract with Elqueeness is certainly a miracle that will happen only once in my lifetime. It is also an opportunity. However I do not plan to rely on him. I’m sorry Elqueeness. Although you were willing to do this for me… No matter what, I believe I should do this with my own power and abilities.”

“….What do you think?”

In truth, I was only a Spirit King by name. All I knew how to do was make water and treat wounds.

Even if he were to ask me for a favor, what could I possibly do?

As I asked, Isana nodded his head as if he expected my answer.

“Marquis Ka-Well has an enviously strong relationship with the people.

Furthermore, he was the only person who remained by my side in the palace.

I want to borrow his army. Although it’s his personal force, he has 20,000 strong. I believe that he has the strength to fight against my uncle.”

“Hm…”

“This is a test for myself. If I were to meet Ka-Well I’ll be able to open myself to countless new ideas.

If the end result shows that my uncle is fit to be Emperor and he can bring prosperity to the people better than I can, I plan to hand the seat to him.”

“Huk! Your Majesty!!!”

“!!You cannot~!!!”

Facing the series of protests by the astonished Knights, Isana remained resolute. It did not seem he planned to change his mind.

Although the Knights would be wronged, the person who would be most regretful was Isana.

Whatever the cause, it still remained a solid fact that his father was executed by the judgment of the church and he was forced to flee his home when his uncle declared him a traitor.

However he still decided to hand over the seat of Emperor for the sake of the people…

I did not think that someone my age will have the will resolution to make such a decision. Now he seemed more like an Emperor in my eyes.

I let out a slight smile and nodded my head.

“It’s not my place to intervene. Do what you wish Isana. I probably wouldn’t have been much use to you anyways.”

“That’s not true! There is not a single soul that does not know the might of the Spirit of Water. It’s not that I made this decision because I am ignorant or looked down on your abilities, it’s just that….”

“I know. To sum it up, you think that humans should solve the problems of humans right?
Truthfully I too don’t wish to partake in this headache so it doesn’t matter to me. Ah but…”.

“ ……..? ”

He probably thought that I would feel displeased to hear that I wasn’t needed.

This brat seemed to be shocked at my indifference.

But when it seemed to him that I would say something else, his face hardened and clenched his teeth. He believed that I would want to immediately cancel the contract.

But how should I say this, I will not let go of this chance for my amusement. I don’t plan on letting go of my plans to entertain myself so easily.

“It would be fine if I just followed you right? Since you already made a contract with me already, it would be a waste to dissolve it.”

“ ……!! ”

“Yeah, you might as well just make me a place among your men. I really wanted to go on a adventure. It would be fine to that extent right?”

“O…Of course!!! Most definitely!! Thanks Elqueeness!! Thank you so much!”

Seeing his reaction, I felt as if I did something worthy of recognition.

It’s not like I’m helping, I’ll just be mooching off of them from now on, why does he look so grateful?

In contrast with the previous nervous attitudes of the knights, they seemed to carry an indifferent attitude that seemed to say, ‘If it’s the Emperor’s decision then there’s no helping it.’ However they inwardly seemed very pleased. Seeing this, I felt something warm in my heart.

‘Seems like it was beneficial for me to say yes.’

If I were to have made a contract with a dragon, I would not have been able to feel this affection or create any bonds of friendship.

The previous gloomy atmosphere slowly disappeared and was replaced with a warmer and more golden aura. Now all was left to do was to find the Marquis and ask him to aid us.

Seeing Isana’s face radiant with happiness, I honestly thought to myself, ‘He may become a good friend.’

It was a satisfying day.

TLN: Meanwhile in a village tavern

“Munch munch…. Gulp… Kkkkkk~ now I feel alive!”

“chomp chomp, mmmmm~, shut up and eat more! There won’t be an opportunity like this again!”

“Hey, I had my eyes on that for a while, don’t touch it!”

“As if! Early bird gets the worm, don’t whine! Do you have a death wish?”

The violent, loud, and obnoxious people who were in the middle of stuffing their faces with food were Isana’s men that were assigned as my knights.

After starving for several days, this is understandable… but I can’t seem to get used to the manner of speech. Can’t they change that somehow?

I sighed and played with the hood. I’m begging you guys, please don’t disrupt my pleasant adventure!

“Please don’t fight and eat slowly. There is enough food.”

“Ahh, I too want to do that but that buffoon is getting on my nerves! That guy is what you would call human trash and needs a beating once in a while.”

“What did you say? Son of a three legged naked mole rat, you really do have a death wish don’t you! Fine~ let’s do it! Come at me!”

Bickering like actors in a third rate movie, one of the Knights unsheathed his sword by his waist.

In reaction, the tavern became full of screams of people who tried to avoid the danger.

“Kya~~~!

Although the place was small and dark, perhaps it was because it was lunch time the tavern was filled to the brink.

In that sense, there is no way a commotion would be welcomed. The tavern owner ran over and tried to be a mediator for both sides.

“Please, you are being a disturbance to the other customers, I beg all of you to calm down!”

“Shut up owner! Do you know who I am? Although I may look like this, I am a martial artist that has shaked the nation!”

“Hmph! You’re no more than a third rate mercenary. If you haven’t come here you probably would have starved to death~”

“You piece of trash!!”

Hey hey hey, instead of calming them down, aren’t you just fanning the flames?

At this rate I’ll be labeled on the same level as you guys!

In annoyance, a small vein protruded from my forehead as I angrily shouted, “If you guys act like this I’ll dissolve the request. Will you still not stop?”

“….Che- Hey you. You’re alive today because of this person! Ugh just my luck!”

“You took the words right out of my mouth! Just shut up and eat!”

It seemed like my words had a strong impact. The atmosphere instantly became quiet and although the two tussled with each other a few times, they sat down and resumed their meal.

The Tavern owner seemed to be grateful and said,” Thank you for calming these people down. It’s a relief that the commotion did not get bigger…”

“No, I should be apologizing. I was the one who hired these people as mercenaries… It seems that I have caused you trouble.”

Although my face was covered beneath a hood,

He seemed to have intuitively guessed my age based on my voice and bowed politely

The fact that I had procured mercenaries at my age seemed to suggest that I was a child from a rich family.

“It is alright. Mercenaries come to this part of town quite frequently. I am used to this level of noise. Do you require anything else..?”

“Hmm then please prepare food for five people that can last a week. I plan on traveling again soon.”

“No problem. Is that all you require?”

“That is enough for me. Then I will leave it to you.”

The owner left with a friendly answer. I was now able to release the sigh that I had been suppressing for a while.

Suddenly, the people who had been wearing a sleazy expression till now also released a sigh. Then in a small voice, they began to talk amongst themselves.

“This is the last time right Elqueeness-nim? Hahh… I really can’t do this anymore.

Throwing away my face and honor in front of all these people while shouting nonsense….”

“I too think that way. This isn’t something that decent humans should be doing.”

“Haha. You all did well, don’t be like that. You guys were more realistic then Aleck and Felix when I brought them last time.”

“I… Is that so? Hehe.”

They seemed to be embarrassed from my slight compliment. Such gullible fellows.

If we were to compare the two men before and after, it would be hard to say that they were the same people because of the huge contrast in attitudes.

With a smile, I looked around to see confirm there was no one in the proximity that can hear our conversation.

“With this, we’ll have enough supplies to last for a while. Since we did the same thing we 4 other places… We can last at least a month. If it’s not enough, then we can go to other villages and see what we could find.”

“This is truly an ingenious method.

IF we were to purchase large amounts of food at once then it will without a doubt draw suspicion,

So we select the most tranquil towns to purchase small amounts of food.”

“Furthermore since we are disguised as mercenaries no one will suspect that we are nobility. Such outstanding judgment could only be befitting of the Spirit King of Water.

The day I decided to become one of Isana’s people,

There was a major problem for us since we needed to go on a journey to meet Marquis Ka-Well.

For several days, these people have been starving. There was simply no food left to be consumed in the future.

As a Spirit, I had no such problems regarding mortal needs. Unlike humans, I didn’t have to eat or drink to survive.

Furthermore it was early winter. Even though they were in the mountains, there was not a single piece of grassroots that could be dug out as food.

Isana could not ask too much from them since they were burdened with cold and hunger. He considered risking going to a village to search for food but that was also another problem…

“Do you even have money to buy food?”

“ …… ”

“How are you going to make it there? From what you said earlier, wanted posters for you guys are placed throughout every village.

Scouring villages in large numbers will only help draw suspicion.”

“ ……… ”

It wouldn’t just be strange, if it were me I would have went straight to the police!

In front of these pressing questions, the confidence of the men dissipated and stared stiffly into space not knowing what to do.

Because they were forced to leave in a hurry, they could not bring any kind of valuables so there was nothing that could be exchanged for food.

Running around like this without a single plan…. They must have a screw or two lose.

In the end, the person who freed the knights who were gloomy from shame was me.

Previously, I obtained a jeweled from Ebas Eden which I took out and waved in front of his eyes.

In response, his mouth dropped like stone. Seeing this, I felt rather refreshed so I smiled and said,

“Pay me back later.”

“Elqueeness….”

 

 think distributing the men tasked with obtaining food across various villages in a fixed schedule is the most ideal approach. It seems like we’ll need fresh sets of clothes as well. Isana.

In your opinion, what value does this flower… no this jewel have?”

However, despite my direct question, Isana was unable to respond.

As Isana stood their speechless like a stone statue, Felix who stood next to the Emperor intervened and inspected the jewel carefully.

“May I see the treasure? It looks like it’s a sizeable carat… ho…. It’s also in the shape of a flower!

I have never seen an object this beautiful! Marvelous! With this craftsmanship, we could get 600 gold even if we were to be scammed.”

“600 gold? How much is that worth… Hm. Can we purchase a month’s worth of supply with that?”

“That and much more! Including food, it will be enough to purchase new clothes and horses for everyone here and still have a surplus.

If we were to head to the city, we could auction this off for at least 1000 gold coins.”

Ho! So single lily flower has such a value? That’s understandable since diamond was worth an astronomical sum back in Earth. I guess the financial value doesn’t change just because I’m in a different world.

If I were to show them a rose made of rubies or tulips made of sapphires, what kind of face would they make?

I chuckled inwardly as I amused myself with their expressions.

I guess I could sympathize with Iffrit who stared at me with a haughty expression when I was filled with pure ecstasy when I scampered around in the garden collecting the jeweled flowers.

This afternoon, I finally left to see the shining world with Felix to accompany me. Our designation was a jewelry store located in a nearby village.

Upon arrival, Felix unexpectedly spoke with eloquence in his manner of speech and behavior that immediately put the owner in a trance.

The end result was that he was able to raise the originally expected price of 600 to 800 for the flower. Because of his skills, I looked at him with eyes of admiration.

Felix was originally a commoner by birth. However because of his talent as a Summoner he was able to receive a title of nobility.

From his experience as a commoner, he was a master at the art of haggling.

Carrying the heavy money pouch, he hummed happily to himself. Seeing him, I asked him a question with a curious look.

“Can anyone who has a particular skill receive a title of nobility?”

“Hmm… Not all countries are like that. Soltere Empire is quite generous in that matter. It’s probably to encourage people to train their own individual skills.

However, because the number of Summoners are scarce,

Even novice Summoners like me can receive a title of nobility from any country although the title itself is only in name since we do not receive any fiefs or grants.”

“Hmmm. Regardless, isn’t it still impressive? Because of the 10 year calamity, the other Spirit Kings were reducing their influence in their outside world to the bare minimum to compensate for the lack of water. Their goal was to maintain a condition that was closest to the original equilibrium. Because of that, summoning a Spirit within that period of time should have been extremely difficult.

If you were able to summon a spirit even with the sanctions, then your affinity with the spirit world must be extremely high.

You definitely have the talent to further improve your abilities.”

“Hoh? Is that so? So the Spirit Kings were holding back their power? So that’s why there were so little new Spirits being summoned.”

Seeing him ask with eyes rounded from surprise made me rather embarrassed so I just nodded in response.

The reason why the Spirit Kings were forced to contain their powers was because I was not born yet.

However Felix who was ignorant of those matters naively complimented the hard work done by the Spirit Kings.

“You guys must have really worked hard. In order to establish balance in nature that has lost its water, they must have no choice but to reduce their powers. I truly feel grateful to the Spirit Kings.”

“Haha. Are you not going to ask me any questions? Although that crisis was not my intention, controlling droughts was within my jurisdiction.”

“I believe that it was a problem far beyond your control Elqueeness-nim. I am just a humble human.

But I am not a being ignorant enough to interfere in the work done by the Spirit Kings.

As someone who exists within history, seeing Elqueeness-nim alone with my own two eyes is truly an honor.”

While he said such words, I could see no other expression besides childish happiness and honesty in his face.

It looks like Isana has fine men beside him.

“You flatter me. By the way… We should buy clothes. It’s a problem if we were to travel in these clothes…”

Although Felix was rather cleanly, remembering the clothing of the Knights made me shudder in displeasure.

As if to sympathize, he quickly nodded in response and hurriedly grabbed my arm to lead me.

Hmm? For some reason, I feel like his worries are different from mine.

“Of Course! We should quickly buy clothes! Ones with hoods should be ideal correct? That should be best in hiding faces.”

“Hoodies? Covering your face is fine… But if all the knights were to do that, it would be too suspicious.”

“No, I don’t mean it for us. I thought you would find it useful.”

“Me?”

Why me?

Surprised, I hurriedly inspected my clothing to see what the problem was but no matter how I saw it, my clothing was what any villager would wear.

Although it should be considered rather luxurious when compared to what Felix was wearing… Would that really be such a big problem?

Now that I notice, the people who passed by seemed to be secretly gazing at me.

I thought it was because I seemed out of place as an outsider,

Was my outfit strange? I apologized to Felix with a bashful expression.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t think that this style of clothes would stand out. I guess I can’t tell since what you wear in the Spirit World doesn’t matter….”

“Huh? What do you mean? There’s nothing wrong with your clothes.”

“Huh? Then why do you suggest a hood?”

“That’s because Elqueeness-nim is too beautiful.

Look, people over there are staring at you with indecent purposes.”

“Ha…Ha….

….”

Bea…Beautiful?

I still haven’t recovered from the shock of being called a woman…

I never imagined I would take another fatal blow here!

Losing all forms of speech, I could only let out a awkward laughter.

I took his advice and exchanged my clothes with a one with a hood.

Because my very essence was water, although I couldn’t change my basic appearances,

I could still change my figure in terms of dimension by will in the same way a person changes clothes.

Seeing this, Felix who seemed rather amazed smiled in a satisfied way.

It was almost like a hidden housewife emerged deep inside…. Gulp.

Only after traveling by countless stores and purchasing varieties of casual wear, overcoats, and foot wear were be able to tour the village in leisure.

Because this village was in the frontier, I expected it to look like a backwater country village,

However, despite my assumptions the size of the village was not tiny. The stores and all the other buildings were also relatively clean.

There was also a castle where the lord of the village resided in and guards who were stationed throughout the area. Also in the center of the village was giant plaza where the villagers entertained themselves and their families and socialized with their neighbors.

Seeing this, Felix praised them saying that although this place was small, it was also had a lively atmosphere.

In one side of the plaza was a billboard with a single picture.

This drew my curiosity so I went over to inspect it.

When I saw the drawing, I felt rather strange since the person detailed in the poster felt rather familiar to me. Then after sudden realization, my face began to turn pale.

[Isana Lance Solt – +Name of Crime+

Despite his status of the Emperor, he has committed the serious crime of leaking our Empire’s secret intelligence to foreign nations-17 years old with short blonde hair.

The person who reports him will receive a reward of 10,000 gold-Order of the Pope]

“Huk… This… What is this?”

To put a wanted poster of the Emperor, what kind of country is this?

While I stared with a horrified expression, Felix walked next to me and sighed before I even noticed his presence.

“So in the end the power of the Demon Church has spread this far. I guess this is unavoidable. Unlike foreign countries, power in the Soltere Empire is separated between the Divine Right of the Monarchy and the religious influence of the Popedom.

Because of this separation, the power of the Pope and the Emperor often conflicts.

But these people in the past weren’t the kind of men who would so openly revolt against the Imperial family… Why did this happen?”

“Hmm….”

“Anyways, in this case we should hurry and move. I predict that the Archduke will make a move on Isana-nim’s cousin, Ka-Well-nim

The Archduke’s men may already have filled Ka-Well’s fief with his own Knights. We should hurry Elqueeness-nim.”

“Very well.”

Nodding with a determined expression, Felix and I headed back towards our hideout in the mountain.

Upon our arrival, I had the Knights dress after the naiads bathed them by my instructions.

After they were cleaned up, the Knights presented themselves in an orderly fashion.

After they were cleaned, we divided the group into sets of 4 and disguised them as free mercenaries and employers in order to travel through the villages.

In order to ensure that the trick is not discovered, we took turns in obtaining food in regular intervals following a set schedule.

As a result, it was late night with the darkness enveloping our surroundings by the time we were finished.

Since obtaining supplies took longer than expected, we pushed back the date for our departure to dawn and gathered around the fire to discuss our future plans.

The first person who suggested his opinion was Aleck who wore his usual calm expression.

“It is difficult for all of us to move at the same time. In order to reach the territory that Ka-Well-nim controls, we must pass three different cities

A group with more than ten people traveling together is bound to draw unwanted attention. I believe it would be best if we were to scatter ourselves into groups and head to different directions.”

“But what difference will dividing ourselves make? We are already wanted men. If any of us is captured then our enemies will know where we are. Once they arrive we are finished.”

“Some of us have families that are being used as hostages. If we are to be discovered, I would rather die together.”

“That’s not the point. Even if we were to perish the Emperor must be protected. Your Majesty, please leave us here and go on with Elqueeness-nim.”

“What…What are you saying??”

Aleck’s proposal had already been discussed beforehand with all the other Knights.

Unlike Isana who seemed stunned, the Knights seemed determined as if there was nothing strange.
Seeing this, I realized that the point of this meeting was to convey this idea to Isana

The previous conversations were all just bait used to deliver Isana this proposal.

“If we move together as a group then the Archduke’s men will notice us far more easily.

We are the Royal Knights tasked with protecting you. We do not wish to put you in any form of danger.

Fortunately the wanted notice does not give detailed descriptions about us so we should be able to reside in a nearby village for a while without a problem.”
“Impossible! I cannot do that! You guys have suffered for me… For me you have even abandoned your own families so how can I abandon you?”

“We are not asking you to throw us away! Isn’t your majesty planning to return to the capital? We will be waiting for you there.

In the capital there are nobles that our neutral in this affair. During our stay there, we will try to convince them to join our cause.

We will definitely succeed so please believe us.”

“Impossible! I cannot do that! Even if that’s for the best I can’t do that. I… I-!”

“Your Majesty! Please make the wise decision….”

“Your Majesty, please reconsider…”

“Your Majesty..”

Hmmmm…. This isn’t a situation where I can intervene is it?

With a grieved expression, Isana shook his head in denial

Seeing this, my body grew stiff as a unexpected feeling of anxiety overtook me

Or should I say goosebumps?

It felt rather strange, to see this many grown men willing to throw away their lives for someone who had not even reached adulthood.

This scene of people overcoming any kind of obstacles for someone else is not something that I have ever witnessed in modern Korea.

The heart-wrenching tug of war that seemed to continue for all of eternity ended in Isana’s defeat.

He did not have the courage to stop the iron will of the Knights

He also knew very well that taking this many men with him was dangerous.

With a pained expression, Isana lowered his head and looked as if he was about to break down in tears. With a trembling voice, he said, ”I am sorry… Because I am weak… because I am lacking… I seem to be of no help to you…. I am sorry.”

“Please do not say such words! Giving our lives for you is our dream,

Please, don’t be concerned.

I beg of you to be safe and reclaim the past glory! We are satisfied with just that.”

“That’s right your Majesty!”

Seeing this heartwarming scene, Isana could no longer restrain himself and burst into tears.

While in tears, he put Aleck who was the closest to him in a tight embrace. In a weeping voice he shouted, “Hck…h… I promise. I will…. I will definitely win against my uncle and come back for you guys… Then we will reclaim the palace together.

You guys promise too. That you will never allow yourself to die. That you will be there on the center stage to welcome me back!”

“Khck. Of course Isana-nim… please….please… be well till the day we meet again. This Aleck!

I will wait here till the day you come back.”

“Sob….Kkk…….

The surrounding was suddenly filled with sniveling people trying to hold back their tears.

Joining the embrace shared by Isana and Aleck, the Knights prayed and prayed again to God. That they will be fine, that they will meet again, and most of all that they will be safe.

In the eyes that looked at me, their gazes seemed to ask, ‘please take care of Isana.’ In response, I gave them a confident nod to reassure them.

As if that they were calmed by that alone, they gazed at Isana and smiled.

“Since Elqueeness-nim is present I feel like I can be at peace your Majesty.

Once the people know that Elqueeness-nim is with you, the neutral nobles will definitely flock to our side.”

But Isana did not seem satisfied.

Looking at the face of every Knight with an anxious expression, he once again spoke in a tear filled voice.

“There’s no need to worry about me. If you guys are safe, I will be satisfied with that alone. Do not put yourselves at risk for my sake.

If the situation turns dangerous, feel free to run. I ask your liege will allow that.”

“Yes…. We will do that. We will follow your orders.“

“We hear and obey.”

That night, Isana and the Knights shared numerous untold stories. As if this was the last time they would see each other, they shared stories of the palace, of their families, and their dreams.

“So that’s what happened back then! When I saw you swing the sword hundreds of time, I felt moved and believed that you will one day become a mighty swordsman.”

“What’s with the past tense, are you saying that I won’t be now?”

“Hehe. Of course not.

You are much stronger and more awe-inspiring then in the past.

Your Majesty will become an even more resolute Emperor. That way the people will praise and worship you.”

If separating like this hurts them this much… I wonder how painful it would be to separate while knowing you will never see each other again.

Feeling heavy inside, I slightly bit my lip.

As if understanding my feelings, Sea-Cue-El gave an encouraging look and tried to soothe me with words.

“Separation of this kind may not be uncommon for me in the future. Later… When I see something like this again, will I be used to it? Will I feel this pain inside once again?

Will I see this countless separation and meetings in the future? I can’t imagine it Sea-Cue-El

But… If I refuse the meetings because I fear the separation… I would be the stupidest Spirit King in history, right?”

-No one will ever call Elqueeness-nim stupid. No one will reproach you.

“Ku ku ku… Is that so? But.

I myself will most likely feel that way. And I… won’t be able to withstand that…

Haaa. I may not be fit to be a Spirit King”

But the world does not run abiding your wishes.

As long as I wish entertain myself in amusements, I must take responsibility of the consequences.

[Accept it. Even if that’s what you believe, you are Elqueeness, but you are also Ji-Hoon.

Ji-Hoon needs someone who he can rely on.

That person won’t be the Spirit Kings.

We are comrades till the very end, but we must take different paths as friends.

But your ‘father’ will always be there and watch over you…

To the human Ji-Hoon who needs someone to relieve his pain, he will be the pillar that supports you.]

I suddenly remembered the words that Trom-Well told me.

Was it because of that?
For some reason I really missed El-Wee-En.