Chapter 995

               

Chirp, chirp.

An unknown bird flew through the sky, singing a refreshing song.

“Huh…?”

Raon blinked blankly as he listened to the song falling from above.

“Why is there a village I’ve never seen before in front of me?”

A small village lay right ahead. Several houses were built of red brick, and smoke curled from the square chimneys. For some reason, the sight warmed his chest. It felt like looking at the annex.

‘Where is this?’

All he’d done was break the old woman’s mask Merlin wore, so he couldn’t understand why he’d ended up in a place like this.

‘Is this her Mental World? Even if it is…’

Raon narrowed his eyes and looked around.

‘The senses are too vivid.’

The familiar scent drifting from the village and the wind brushing his fingertips felt too real. It didn’t seem like a dream or the Mental World.

‘Or did I die?’

When the light burst from Merlin’s mask, The Fallen One might have ambushed him, and his body might have been destroyed before he even felt it.

‘No. That’s too much. Tower Master Larian would have stopped it.’

-Kkeueueung!

As he shook his head, refusing to believe he could be dead, a familiar voice rose from beneath his feet.

– “Wh-where is this?”

Wrath floated up with his eyes half-closed. He was still in the form of blue cotton candy.

– “Where have you taken this King!”

Wrath roared, demanding to know where they were immediately.

‘Seeing you next to me, it seems I didn’t die.’

Raon chuckled as he watched Wrath grumble about his headache. If Wrath in his Spirit state had been dragged along too, then Raon clearly hadn’t died.

‘But it’s so vivid it feels real… huh?’

Raon reached out toward the tree beside him, then his eyes widened.

‘What is this…?’

He couldn’t grab it.

Like a ghost, his hand passed through the tree and leaves without catching anything.

-Heueeum!

Wrath narrowed his eyes and scanned Raon up and down.

– “You’ve become the same as this King! Now you know the pain of being in a Spirit state!”

He burst into a satisfied laugh, as if he’d finally caught him.

‘Is this the Spirit state?’

Raon examined himself and licked his lips.

‘It’s definitely unique.’

His senses were sharper than when he was alive, yet nothing touched his hands or feet. He could understand why Wrath obsessed over food.

‘For now, I should go in.’

Raon looked at the village and licked his lips.

– “To that village?”

‘I think I know where this is.’

He’d tried to remove Merlin’s mask and ended up dragged into a Spirit state, pulled here. Naturally, this had to be Merlin’s Mental World.

– “That’s right. It must be that crazy woman’s past.”

Wrath nodded as if he’d realized it too.

‘Yeah.’

Raon drew a slow breath and entered the village.

***

“The weather is nice today.”

“Nice, my foot. It’s going to pour soon.”

“Did you read the weather with magic again? Let nature be natural.”

“The cultivation magic Sella developed this time is amazing. The harvest almost doubled!”

“Her magic is definitely reliable.”

“Where did the kids run off to again? It’s almost dinner time!”

For a small village, the people spoke as if no one was left out. Like the annex, it felt friendly and close.

‘I need to find Merlin…’

Raon narrowed his eyes, scanning the village.

‘I don’t know how to find her.’

– “This King doesn’t want to say it, but that crazy woman’s face is quite striking. She’ll stand out.”

Wrath clicked his tongue, saying someone with Merlin’s looks would be noticeable even as a child.

‘Maybe not.’

Raon shook his head calmly.

‘Merlin’s body in the present isn’t her real body.’

He didn’t know the exact process, but Merlin had descended into the present by taking over the body of someone who wore the old woman’s mask.

The face Raon had seen in reality and the face here should have been different.

“Hmm, that’s certainly true.”

Wrath nodded, as if he understood.

– “Even if The Fallen One was involved, that crazy woman did take someone else’s body.”

He frowned as if something had come to mind.

“Tsk…”

Raon walked through the village in silence, clicking his tongue.

‘Being in a Spirit state is inconvenient.’

He could pass through walls and doors, but it was frustrating that he couldn’t use martial arts or aura.

‘At least the village is small.’

As he sighed and searched every corner, children’s laughter rose from a small open space between houses.

‘Could it be…’

Raon turned and headed toward the voices.

“You can’t even do that?”

“You’re really slow…”

“Even kids younger than you can do it.”

“It’s a disgrace to the Fara. A disgrace!”

Children who looked a little over ten surrounded a purple-haired girl, sneering.

“I-I can do it too…”

The purple-haired girl lifted her head weakly.

‘Huh?’

Raon’s eyes widened as he looked at her.

‘Merlin…?’

Even as a child, she carried an air closer to “beautiful” than “pretty.”

In only a few years, she’d have the same face as the Merlin he knew.

– “It’s different from what you said! She looks exactly like that crazy woman!”

Wrath waved his hand, insisting her face was identical.

‘I… I don’t know why either.’

Merlin had died five hundred years ago and returned by placing the old woman’s mask onto a girl in the present.

It was surprising that Merlin in the past and Merlin in the present looked the same.

‘But the eyes are different.’

Merlin’s eyes after removing the mask were purple, with a red cross engraved in the center of her pupils.

But this Merlin’s pupils were just ordinary purple.

– “Rather, the cross is in the eyes of the others.”

Wrath raised a finger, telling Raon to look closely.

‘Uh…?’

Raon followed Wrath’s gesture and gasped.

‘It’s true.’

As Wrath said, a blue cross was engraved in the pupils of the children surrounding Merlin, not in hers.

‘And it’s not just the cross.’

The children carried a high level of pure energy, as if they had directly accepted nature’s mana. They had the innate talent of mages.

“Heo…”

Raon swallowed hard when he noticed the same cross in the eyes of a middle-aged woman doing laundry.

‘Is that a bloodline trait?’

Not everyone in the village had a cross in their eyes, but most did, and most possessed pure mana.

“L-look closely…”

Merlin stuttered and spread her hands with difficulty. A small sphere of flame formed above her palms.

Woo woowoowoong!

But she couldn’t maintain it. The flame went out like a candle in the wind.

“I knew it!”

“Another failure!”

“She doesn’t even have a cross in her eyes. She’s not a Fara like us.”

“I don’t know why Sella takes care of her.”

The children stuck out their tongues, mocking Merlin.

“N-no.”

Merlin lit the flame again, but it vanished even faster.

“You can’t do it.”

“Give up!”

“You can’t even do basic magic at a low level.”

“You have no talent. No talent.”

The children shook their heads, muttering that it was enough.

“You’re not even Sella’s real daughter…”

“You guys!”

Just as a black-haired child was about to say more, a middle-aged woman hanging laundry rushed over.

“I told you to stop bullying your friend!”

“Uwaaaah!”

At her shout, the children turned and tried to run.

“Where do you think you’re going!”

When the middle-aged woman flicked her fingers, the children floated into the air and were dragged back.

“I-I’m sorry!”

“It was just a joke!”

“Eueueuk…”

Hanging like laundry, they mumbled apologies.

“You apologize to your friend, not me!”

The middle-aged woman frowned, pointing at Merlin.

“S-sorry…”

“It was really just a joke…”

The children rolled their eyes and bowed their heads.

“Sniff…”

Merlin didn’t answer. She covered her face and sniffled.

“…….”

“…….”

Raon and Wrath stared with their mouths slightly open at Merlin, crying like an ordinary child.

‘This is Merlin?’

– “This is the crazy woman?”

***

“Heueu…”

Merlin wiped her eyes and nose roughly, as if trying to hide that she’d been crying, and entered an old brick house at the edge of the village.

“I-I’m back.”

As she bowed her head weakly, a rustling came from the kitchen, and a young woman stepped out.

“You’re back early?”

She was a beauty with a refreshing appearance. Smooth blonde hair was neatly tied back, and a blue cross was engraved in her eyes.

“Did you have fun… uh?”

She nodded with a smile, then lowered her eyebrows as she noticed Merlin’s reddened nose.

“Did you cry again?”

She sighed as if this wasn’t the first time.

“N-no.”

Merlin shook her head, saying something had just gotten in her eye.

“Is that so? Then it can’t be helped. But always be careful with your hands. A mage’s hands and eyes are their life. You know Merlin’s teachings, right?”

She gently stroked the burn marks on Merlin’s fingertips. As if by a special power, the burns slowly subsided.

“…Yes. Sella-nim.”

Merlin couldn’t look directly at Sella and lowered her gaze.

“Call me Mom, and speak comfortably.”

Sella shook her head, saying Merlin could treat her comfortably.

“…….”

Merlin didn’t answer, only shifting her eyes. She looked embarrassed—and hesitant.

“…Okay. Let’s eat first.”

Sella sighed and went back into the kitchen.

“I-I’ll help you.”

Merlin sniffled and followed.

“It’s fine. Go wash up.”

Sella sent her back out, telling her to wash her face and hands.

“Yes…”

Merlin’s shoulders drooped as if she’d shrunk. She opened a round silver sphere and washed her hands and face.

– “That….”

Wrath puckered his lips as he watched Merlin pout.

– “Is that really that crazy woman? No matter how I look at it, it doesn’t seem like her.”

He shook his head, saying there was no way.

‘I was thinking the same thing.’

Raon chuckled softly.

‘She’s too different from the Merlin I know.’

Merlin was always extreme, always loud with action. He couldn’t imagine the social monster who’d called Sylvia, whom she’d met once, “Mother,” and called Glenn and Rektor, whom everyone feared, “Grandfathers,” had such a past.

– “But….”

Wrath stared at the kitchen with serious eyes.

‘What is it?’

Raon’s gaze hardened.

– “Aren’t you curious what they’re having for dinner?”

Wrath licked his lips, saying he wanted to see right away.

– “It smells good, but I don’t know what it is!”

He gestured urgently for them to go in.

“Haa. I want to see your past too…”

Raon imagined Wrath’s own past as he followed into the kitchen.

As if time had moved forward, Merlin and Sella were seated at a round table, eating.

– “What is this?”

Wrath rolled his eyes at the reddish dish on the table.

“Melted tomatoes, cheese, and sausage? It’s like pizza, but different!”

He licked his lips, wanting to eat it.

“How was your magic implementation?”

Sella handed Merlin a piece of bread spread with butter and raised her eyebrows slightly.

“Did the duration increase?”

“A-about one second.”

Merlin sighed deeply, saying nothing had changed.

“It’s okay. It’ll get better.”

Sella smiled, saying it would improve little by little.

“Because you have talent.”

“I-I don’t have any talent…”

Merlin bit her lip and shook her head.

“I don’t even have the eyes of the Fara…”

She lowered her eyes toward the blue cross in Sella’s pupils.

“Those eyes aren’t important.”

Sella set down her fork and smiled softly.

“What matters isn’t how strong your magic is, but what kind of magic you learn—and use.”

She said even without those eyes, the path of magic was wide and long.

“Merlin-nim wasn’t a Fara either. You know that, right?”

Sella partly covered her own eyes, telling Merlin to remember.

“Yes…”

Merlin sighed, thinking of what had happened earlier despite Sella’s advice, then put down her fork and spoon.

“I ate well…”

Leaving those words behind, she ran out of the house.

“Wa-wait!”

Sella reached out to stop her, but Merlin was already gone.

“Haa…”

Sella sighed and looked at the bread Merlin had only half eaten.

“Being a mom isn’t easy. It’s much more complicated than magic.”

Shaking her head, she began clearing the table.

‘I should go out.’

He didn’t think he could learn more by staying here, so he turned to follow Merlin outside.

Hoo woowoowoowook!

Suddenly, blue light rose in front of him, and a dimensional opening wide enough for a person appeared.

‘What is this…?’

Raon frowned and turned back.

Sella was frozen in place with a plate in her hand, as if time itself had stopped.

– “It’s telling us to go in.”

Wrath frowned, saying there wasn’t another option.

‘I guess so.’

Raon licked his lips once and stepped into the blue dimensional door without hesitation.

Seueueueueueu!

A huge golden platform came into view, twice the size of Glenn’s throne.

On a splendidly shaped throne sat an old man with unsightly balding hair and a face full of wrinkles, shaking his knees as if he didn’t belong there.

“I-I have to find a way.”

Wearing a fancy golden crown, he bit his nails in terror, repeating only that he had to find a way.

Deep wrinkles lined his body, his complexion was yellow, and he looked like he could die at any moment.

“I can’t die like this…”

The crowned old man chewed his lips as he stared out the window at the vast kingdom below.

“So find a way!”

He shouted and swept the medicine and healing artifacts beside the throne off the platform.

“I-I’m sorry.”

“But the disease Your Majesty has is something we’ve never seen before…”

“W-we’ve never seen a disease that accelerates aging to that extent either.”

The priests and healers below bowed their heads, ashamed.

“Incompetent bastards…”

He bared his teeth in fury. In the meantime, he seemed to have aged even more, another wrinkle carving itself into his forehead.

“If only that person came. If only that person…”

As he trembled, muttering about someone, the huge doors of the audience hall opened.

Koogoo googoo goo.

A man wrapped head to toe in a gray robe entered.

He approached the platform with steps that were confident, but not excessive.

“Your Majesty. I have finally found a way to cure Your Majesty’s disease.”

The man in gray bowed to the wrinkled king, saying he’d found a definite method.

“I-is that really true?”

The king swallowed hard and stepped down from the throne.

“Sage! Tell me quickly!”

He ran down without even straightening his back and stopped before the man.

“Of course.”

The man called Sage smiled faintly and removed the hood covering his face.

“Huh?”

Raon swallowed hard as he saw the man’s face.

‘The Fallen One…?’

It was the exact face of the handsome young man mask The Fallen One wore. Looking at that subtle smile, it was no exaggeration to say they were the same person.

“Your Majesty. Perhaps…”

The man with The Fallen One’s face smiled and brought his hands together.

“Do you know the race called… Fara?”

(T/N : Ooohhhhh. )