Chapter 253
Changing the course of fate is never easy.
No, to be exact, it is almost impossible.
Like a bowstring drawn too tight.
No matter how hard you pull and warp it.
No matter how desperately you stretch it and try to change its shape.
The moment you let go, the string instantly snaps back to its original form.
“That is the Phenomenon of Fate’s Restoration. Fate is that stubborn. So it always exerts a powerful restorative force.”
“Is that so?”
“Mm-hmm.”
Verkis nodded.
Then he continued his explanation.
“Very rarely, for some special reason, the entire course of fate changes because of outside interference, like in your case. When that happens, Fate’s Restorative Power exerts its strongest force.”
“So it tries to return the altered fate to its original state.”
“Correct. In the novel you originally read, the Count and Countess here were crushed by debt and ended up hanging themselves, right?”
“……Yes.”
The death of the Count and Countess.
A situation so horribly similar to that heartbreaking scene.
The situation his parents in Korea had gone through.
The situation he had been forced to witness with his own eyes.
Lloyd’s nod grew heavy.
A faint frown appeared between Verkis’s brows.
“You went through all the trouble of saving them, only for the Count to fall from a horse and break his neck. Then his wife, consumed by grief, takes her own life. That is the Phenomenon of Fate’s Restoration. It is not easy to stop. No, stopping it is nearly impossible.”
“Even if we prevent the Count’s riding accident?”
“Mm-hmm. Even if you stop the riding accident, then the next day he’ll probably slip while bathing and break his neck in some absurd way.”
“……”
“That’s how it is. Fate’s Restorative Power. No matter how desperately you try to stop it, in the end, you still run into a similar outcome.”
“Then how do we stop it?”
“I don’t know.”
“Pardon?”
“Didn’t you hear me? I said I don’t know.”
“Huh.”
“How would I know something like that? Am I a god?”
“But……”
“You, you’re about to ask why I bothered bringing up Fate’s Restorative Power and all this if I don’t know the answer, right?”
“Yes.”
“Tsk. You’re not even going to deny it.”
“Because that’s honestly how I feel.”
“Well, it isn’t entirely hopeless, either.”
“Brother, I have sincerely respected you from the start.”
“……”
“It’s true.”
“Ugh. Anyway, I don’t know the answer to stopping the Phenomenon of Fate’s Restoration, but there may be a clue that could lead you to that answer. By any chance, have you heard of the Gem of Truth passed down in the Mermaid Kingdom?”
“I haven’t.”
Lloyd shook his head.
The Gem of Truth?
It was the first time he had ever heard of it.
Nothing like that had ever been mentioned in Iron Blooded Knight either.
Verkis continued,
“This is something I heard from a mermaid I knew long ago. Apparently, there is an object in the Mermaid Kingdom called the Gem of Truth.”
“Don’t tell me it’s some kind of thing that reveals the truth or something.”
“Yeah. Something like that. But only for a single question.”
“One question?”
“Yeah. One.”
Verkis raised his index finger.
“They say it gives an answer containing the truth to any question. But there is one condition. Like I said, it only answers one specific question.”
“Then……”
Lloyd’s eyes darted.
His mind calculated at lightning speed.
‘Papapapak.’
“Would a question like, ‘Please tell me how to stop the Phenomenon of Fate’s Restoration happening around me,’ count as specific enough?”
“Maybe? You’ll probably find out if you go to the Mermaid Kingdom and ask.”
“Yes. Then where do I go to reach the Mermaid Kingdom?”
Lloyd’s voice trembled ever so slightly.
Got it.
He had found a clue.
He had been desperate enough to want even an internet search engine.
And yet, just because he had tried poking the Dragon King on a whim, he had ended up pulling out an incredibly valuable lead.
‘The Gem of Truth in the Mermaid Kingdom. So all I need to do is go to the Mermaid Kingdom and find it, right?’
Hope appeared.
A rosy blueprint took shape in his mind, one where this problem might be solved more easily than expected.
But the blueprint was instantly crumpled and crushed by Verkis’s indifferent answer.
“I don’t know.”
“Pardon?”
“I said I don’t know where the Mermaid Kingdom is.”
“No, but you just said you had a mermaid acquaintance……”
“That one got old and died.”
“……”
“Was it Houhora? She was the queen two generations before the current one in the Mermaid Kingdom. But she grew old and died.”
“Um, but you must have known her before she passed away, right?”
“I did. Mostly I just used her.”
“……”
“Then later, after she inherited the throne, she changed the kingdom’s entire address and didn’t tell me.”
“……”
Oh, Dragon King.
What kind of relationships have you even been building, you overgrown sleepyhead?
Lloyd wanted to let out a deep sigh.
But there was no point clinging any further.
What could he do if the Dragon King said he didn’t know?
‘Let’s back off here.’
If he kept pushing past this point, it would only mean crossing the line.
And besides, sleepiness was already hanging thickly over the Dragon King’s eyes.
‘Right. I’ve gotten enough. No need to annoy him further by pushing and crossing the line.’
A person had to know when to retreat after getting what they could.
Lloyd instinctively felt that now was exactly that moment.
A service-minded smile spread across his face.
“Understood. In any case, thanks to you, I understand the situation now. Dragon King, no, Brother, I sincerely thank you.”
“Brother?”
“Oh my, I accidentally let my true feelings slip out again……”
“I don’t care about your true feelings or whatever. So you’re going to look for the Mermaid Kingdom now?”
“I believe so, yes.”
“Then what about my morning wake-up call?”
“I’ll give them strict instructions.”
“Really? There’s another talent besides you who can wake me so briskly?”
“Yes. There are some who can’t speak, so communication is impossible.”
Lloyd smiled brightly.
Images of the Bone Corps rose in his mind.
‘Well, Turtle Neck, Square Jaw, and Frozen Shoulder. If those three come in here every morning and perform tap dance and hula dance, then whether you want to wake up or not, your eyes will pop open on their own.’
The sound of bones clattering and creaking.
‘Rattle, clack. Creak, clatter.’
After experiencing a performance that exhausting—no, bone-rattling—even the Dragon King wouldn’t be able to stay asleep.
Because of that, Lloyd was able to reassure Verkis (?).
“They’ll definitely wake you up every morning. So please don’t worry.”
“Well, if that’s the case.”
Verkis flopped down flat.
A satisfied smile had already spread across the Dragon King’s face.
‘Good. I finally got rid of him. What a bothersome fellow.’
The events of the past few days passed through his mind.
That Lloyd Frontera fellow.
No, that Kim Suho fellow from another dimension.
How endlessly annoying he had been, clinging to him and begging for help with his problem.
Because of that, even after finishing the daily homework of contacting his wife every morning, Verkis had still had to toss and turn for several more minutes before sleeping. He had spent days suffering through the pain of not being able to fall asleep immediately.
That was why—
The reason he had told Lloyd about the Gem of Truth in the Mermaid Kingdom was simple.
‘Well, if he’s lucky, maybe he’ll find it. At least until then, he won’t keep clinging to me and being annoying.’
Suddenly, an event from hundreds of years ago came back to him.
Was it that mermaid, Houhora?
She had once said there was a certain legend in the Mermaid Kingdom.
‘That was about the Gem of Truth. But it only appeared once in the distant age of myth, so even they don’t know if it really exists. They think it may just be part of their legends and traditions.’
She had only mentioned it in passing.
Like some trivial joke.
That was the Gem of Truth.
In other words, even in the Mermaid Kingdom, the treasure called the Gem of Truth was of uncertain origin.
Compared to Korea—
It would probably be like the legend from the Dangun myth about Ungnyeo becoming human after eating garlic and mugwort.
‘So finding that gem will be extremely difficult. And even if it is possible, it will take a very long time.’
The corner of Verkis’s mouth curled wickedly.
If it took a long time to find the gem—
Then for that entire period, that fellow would no longer be able to stick to him and be annoying.
Perhaps by the time that long search was over, his daily wake-up-call homework for his wife would have ended as well.
‘Then I’ll just go back to the Dragon Cave. No need to see that fellow again. No need to suffer through his whining. Perfect.’
Just imagining it made him feel pleased.
To the point that his toes wriggled happily beneath the blanket.
Thus, Verkis concealed his true intentions.
Lloyd, meanwhile, was satisfied simply because he had found some kind of clue.
The warm smiles of dragon and human met in the air.
‘Ugh. What a bothersome fellow.’
‘Ugh. What a sleepyheaded fellow.’
After concluding that smile-filled exchange of mutual deception (?), Lloyd withdrew.
Leaving behind the Dragon King’s snores, he returned to the study.
To find the location of the Mermaid Kingdom.
‘I definitely saw it in here a few days ago.’
Back in the study, Lloyd pulled out a book containing myths and legends.
It was one of the books he had gone through a few days ago while pulling all-nighters in the study.
‘At the time, there was a mention of the Mermaid Kingdom around here. Mermaid… Mermaid Kingdom… Good. Here it is.’
Fortunately, he found the passage quickly.
[Mermaids are able to dive into the deepest and most treacherous seas, and because they make full use of that ability, they often hide their kingdom in places no one can easily reach. Therefore, in general, no one knows where their kingdom is located, and the clue is held only by a few of the most seasoned sailors who have navigated the most dangerous seas through their own experiences……]
‘Hmm.’
Lloyd rested his chin on his hand.
‘The most treacherous sea.’
His thoughts moved with a smooth swish.
‘Swish, swish.’
He sifted through the countless places that had appeared in Iron Blooded Knight.
Among them, he focused on every mention or setting related to the sea.
Then he fit them together, arranged them, and compared them.
Thanks to that, he was able to reach a likely conclusion without much trouble.
‘It has to be the northern sea.’
Lloyd became certain.
First of all, it wasn’t the southern sea.
There was a fairly large ocean south of the Lorasia Continent, but beyond that lay a massive continent occupying the polar region, much like Antarctica on Earth.
On the other hand, the north—
‘The Arctic Ocean, said to be the most treacherous sea around the Lorasia Continent, lies there.’
The cruelest and roughest sea of all.
Waves over ten meters high were said to rise there frequently.
Icebergs were said to drift through those terrifying currents.
For any sailor who navigated the seas, it was literally a nightmare.
‘But there are some insane sailors who deliberately sail those deadly waters.’
They were the whalers who hunted Emperor Whales.
Catching even a single Emperor Whale was said to be the kind of pride a sailor carried for life.
There were sea hunters who chased exactly that sort of jackpot.
‘And fortunately for me, the home port of the Arctic Emperor Whale whalers is somewhere I know very well.’
Not merely familiar.
Friendly, even.
The very place where the feat of capturing the Giga Titan had once been accomplished.
Cremo Harbor.
From that moment on—
Lloyd hurried to prepare for the trip to Cremo Harbor.
The preparations were simple.
Three days’ worth of provisions to eat while flying on Ggoming.
And camping gear such as a tent and sleeping bag.
Of course, there was still the matter of persuading the Count and Countess.
“So you’re saying you’ll go to Cremo Harbor and return?”
“Yes.”
Clink.
A rare dinner with the Count and Countess.
At that table, Lloyd revealed his plan.
Of course, he did not tell them everything.
He said he was planning a new business venture.
So, for the sake of an on-site inspection, he needed to go to Cremo Harbor and return.
That was how he roughly glossed it over.
Count Frontera asked with a somewhat worried look,
“But will you really be alright?”
“Pardon?”
“You went to the capital not long ago. Back then, didn’t you say you were finally going to rest comfortably at home for a while?”
“Yes, I did say that.”
“That is why this father is worried.”
The Count continued,
“This father knows full well how diligent you are, but for someone who said he would finally rest a little to suddenly talk about a new business… Has something happened that you cannot tell your father?”
“Ah, no. It’s not like that.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes.”
Lloyd deliberately smiled and stabbed his fork into the salad.
But even so, he could vaguely feel it.
The Count and Countess’s concern for him.
He didn’t think he could ease those worried hearts.
‘Well. Even I wouldn’t believe my own excuse about suddenly starting a new business. It’ll obviously look like there’s something I can’t reveal, and like I’m moving in a hurry because of it.’
But there was no helping it for now.
Time was too precious to waste.
Because there were only three years left until the Count’s riding accident.
Within that time, he had to find a method to stop the Phenomenon of Fate’s Restoration the Dragon King had spoken of, and then put that method into action.
‘So you may be worried now, but please just trust me a little longer.’
The Count and Countess pretended to accept his excuse.
Yet even in doing so, they still could not hide how worried they were for him.
Lloyd looked at them with warm eyes.
They were people he was grateful for.
People he truly wanted to protect.
Was it only because he was afraid of being left alone in this world?
Or because he needed them alive for the sake of his own comfortable life?
No.
Not that those feelings had been completely absent before.
But at least now, it wasn’t just that.
Especially after sending the troublemaker Lloyd on to reincarnation in hell—
‘Because now there’s a truth I must tell you.’
Someday, he would tell them honestly.
Before that, he would apologize sincerely.
Even if they did not forgive him, that would be fine.
As long as these people, who had treated him sincerely until now, could live in peace.
And to make that happen, he too would do everything he could.
That was what he had decided.
‘Because I don’t want to go through that kind of misfortune twice.’
Suddenly, memories of Korea came back to him.
The memories he most wanted to forget, but could never forget.
Memories too painful to erase.
The memories of the day he had to witness, and send off, his parents after they made their final desperate choice.
‘I don’t want to go through something like that here, either.’
Back then, in Korea—
He had been too naïve and ignorant.
He had known nothing about the world.
He had had nothing to his name, nothing prepared.
And because of that, he had failed to protect them.
But now it was different.
‘I can do it.’
I can protect them.
I want to protect them.
I don’t want to spend the rest of my life chained to the grief and regret of that day.
So—
“I’ll work hard.”
With a faint smile, as if it were nothing unusual.
Firm resolve seeped into the smile Lloyd turned toward the Count and Countess.