Chapter 57 : An Unexpected Matter (4)

Chapter 57: An Unexpected Matter (4)

"Hoo."

Yuran let out a deep sigh.

Her face flushed as if it were about to burst, and she brushed her lips once in self-reproach.

Then, she quietly picked up the book that had fallen to the ground, placed it in her bag, and muttered weakly.

"No more excuses are meaningful…."

The mask always dangling from her head clattered softly.

Maybe it was just my imagination, but the expression carved on the mask seemed to be on the verge of tears.

"If you wish to laugh, then laugh."

“Laugh?”

"Others would see this and laugh heartily."

She responded in a half-resigned voice.

"To be honest, I laugh at myself too. I've studied the Empire's language for some time now, yet I'm still like this."

She sighed once more and murmured,

"I’m the biggest fool under the heavens."

"I don’t think it’s as bad as you say."

I opened my mouth, trying to comfort her.

"The Empire’s language and the Garusol tongue are completely different in pronunciation, grammar, and even intonation, aren’t they? I heard that’s why it’s especially hard for people to learn each other’s language."

"Still, there should be a limit."

"Actually, I once studied the Garusol language. For about six months, I think?"

It wasn’t a lie.

Though it had been in my past life.

"But in the end, the only thing I could remember was this."

I spoke the one phrase in Garusol I could say fluently.

It was also the first thing I’d said when I met her.

— I am a foreigner.

— I do not speak the Garusol language.

"Ahaha!"

Yuran suddenly burst into loud laughter, as if the memory had come back to her.

"Yes, Lian Gwendil. You have no idea how flustered I was when you said that!"

She nodded repeatedly, clearly amused.

"Wait, and then you followed it up by saying you couldn’t understand me because you were a foreigner!"

I hadn’t expected her to be so amused by it, so I asked again with slight embarrassment.

"…Did you? You didn’t really seem that flustered back then."

"I could at least tell that you were trying to help me."

Murmuring that, she let out another small breath.

Then, looking visibly more relaxed, she gazed at me.

"Well then, since we’re already here, would it be alright to spend a bit more time together?"

"As much as you like."

"Good. Then let’s talk a bit about what I promised you before."

What she promised before.

There was only one thing that could be.

"The Sky Guide?"

"That’s right."

She nodded.

I asked her in return.

"Now that I think about it, didn’t Professor Shagas say the Sky Guide is a being similar to a shaman?"

"Similar, but different. No—strictly speaking, completely different."

She replied as she began jotting something down in her notebook.

I silently watched as Yuran worked.

She tapped each of the four words in turn with her pen and spoke.

"If we were to pair them up, the Empire’s priest and our shaman. The Empire’s magician and our sorcerer perform similar roles. However…."

Yuran then drew another line between 'shaman' and 'sorcerer' and added a new word.

Sky Guide.

"This is the Sky Guide."

I stayed silent for a moment.

I needed a second to process her explanation.

Yuran didn’t wait for my response.

"Sky Guide. Shaman and sorcerer. They use the powers of both. It also means someone who can perform the roles of both."

At that moment, I was struck by a memory from Professor Windy May’s lecture.

White flames.

Magical power imbued with divine energy.

"…So, in our terms, someone who can wield magical power like a magician and divine power like a priest. Is that what a Sky Guide is?"

"No. Completely different."

Yuran frowned slightly and shook her head at my response.

After a brief pause, she asked again.

"Lian Gwendil. If you add oil to water, do the two mix?"

"No, they don’t."

"Exactly. They don’t mix. Simply put, that’s how it is with magical and divine power. They are like oil and water."

Declaring this, she added in a quiet voice,

"…Though they do mix a little, technically, let’s say for now that they don’t."

"I understand."

"Then, what do you need to make water and oil mix?"

"You need to add something that helps them mix."

"Correct. If you add soap water, oil and water will mix."

On the memo, she wrote: water, oil, and then soap.

"This is how it works. There are quite a few people who can use both magical and divine power. Some even use both at the same time. But that’s no different from scooping water and oil separately and using them as-is."

"…But someone who actually mixes them together—that’s the Sky Guide?"

"Exactly!"

Yuran finally nodded in satisfaction.

"As I said earlier, just having both powers doesn’t mean they will mix. Another power is needed. And that varies from person to person."

"Varies from person to person?"

"Yes. Because people are all slightly different. Even if they use the same power, it differs. There’s also the matter of whether it’s stronger or weaker. There are dozens of things to consider. So the thing that allows the two powers to mix can’t be described in a simple way."

"Hmm…."

After a moment of thought, I asked her,

"In your case, Yuran, what is it?"

I said it without much thought.

Yuran stared at me and asked in return,

"Is that something to be repaid with grace?"

"…Pardon?"

"Lian Gwendil, I have received grace from you. It is our principle to repay grace threefold, and vengeance sevenfold. Therefore, I must return your favor three times."

Was it just my imagination?

Somehow, for a brief moment, her black pupils seemed to flash red.

"If you ask because you truly wish to know, I shall answer without hiding. This is an oath to my ancestral spirits. But if I do, it shall count as repaying one act of grace."

Only then did I realize that I had just committed a great discourtesy.

Essentially, I had asked her about her very foundation.

And such a thing was taboo for both magicians and priests.

I quickly bowed my head and apologized.

"…I'm sorry. That was thoughtless of me. You don't have to answer."

"Then I shall remain silent."

"Um… may I ask something else then?"

"Ask as much as you wish."

She nodded refreshingly.

Thankfully, she didn’t seem to have taken my previous blunder to heart.

"Truthfully, I can use both divine power and magic. I’ve never formally studied magic, but… recently I received a proposal to become someone’s disciple, so I must have some talent at least."

"Does a magician’s blood run in your veins?"

She asked carefully.

"Your father, or your mother. Even further back. If there’s a magician or witch among those you remember, it's common to inherit the talent even without training. That’s why families that have honed magic over generations are strong."

"My mother."

I nodded.

"My mother was a magician."

"Then it all makes sense."

She stared at me, then sniffed the air as if sensing something.

"I can feel it. You were born with strong power. A strong shaman… in other words, I feel priestly power from you. But even if you’d chosen the path of magic, you would’ve grown into something great."

"That’s nice to hear."

Smiling faintly, I gradually moved toward the point I wanted to make.

"So here’s what I’m wondering. Divine power and magic—I understand those. But as you said, Yuran, there must be another power within me. That’s why you said I give off the scent of a Sky Guide."

"Mm… that’s right."

As my explanation dragged on, Yuran furrowed her brows, perhaps struggling to follow.

But soon she nodded, as if understanding, and I asked her without hesitation.

"Could that power be related to spirits?"

"It is not."

Yuran firmly shook her head.

It was the answer I expected, so I was about to ask my next question when she added something unexpected.

"You certainly carry the power of spirits. But it’s faint. Not enough to endure mixing the two powers."

"…Excuse me? You sense spirit power in me?"

"…? You weren’t asking because you knew?"

Yuran looked at me, genuinely surprised by my reaction.

"Ah, no. I asked just in case, but I’m surprised you said I actually had it."

"I see."

I covered it up, and Yuran didn’t seem to think much of it.

But unlike her, I couldn’t just shrug it off.

‘She clearly said I had zero affinity before…’

Maybe something had changed because I’d been with Cecilia and exposed to spirits regularly, even if they were low-grade?

Or maybe…

"Yuran, then…"

I asked her the one question I had been meaning to ask from the start.

"If it’s not spirit power… then do you know what that power might be?"

The brand carved into my collarbone.

Could it be that?

With that suspicion in mind, I asked her—but the reply I got was once again unexpected.

"I don’t know."

"…What?"

Yuran shrugged.

"I don’t know either."

She snorted softly through her nose and added,

"How would I know that?"

The Academy had an abundance of paths.

Scenic and pleasant ones drew crowds, but there were also quiet ones, infested with bugs, where no one wandered.

Walking alone down one of those quiet paths, I calmly recalled what had just happened.

‘You can see fire burning, but only the one who threw in the kindling knows what it’s burning….’

It was a cryptic statement, but I could roughly grasp its meaning.

In the end, only the person who uses the power can discover what it is.

Yuran had given me a few more pieces of advice, but ultimately, to truly understand what my power was, I had to train as a Sky Guide.

‘That’s ridiculous.’

Even ten bodies wouldn’t be enough.

I already had divine power, swordsmanship and martial arts, sigil research, ancient Garusol language…

At this rate, I’d even end up learning magic.

Adding anything more went beyond greed—it was sheer madness.

So I said I appreciated the offer but had to decline, that I already had too much on my plate.

But Yuran didn’t seem bothered in the slightest.

No, rather, she looked at me with something like pity in her eyes and simply said:

― It’s already too late.

― To have the qualities of a Sky Guide means it is either destiny or fate.

― Lian Gwendil, you will walk the path of a Sky Guide. Even if not by me, someone else will guide you.

― You will surely have more questions. Come see me anytime. I will always welcome you, my benefactor.

"Hoo."

So much had happened that my head felt like it would explode from the pressure.

To be honest, I just wanted to toss aside the brand, the Seven Heroes, and everything else—and run away from this place.

But knowing that doing so would only lead me to a bleak future, I simply bottled it all up again today.

‘For now, I’ll meet Professor Windy May with Cecilia tomorrow.’

If I could meet her, at least a few of the questions—including what happened today—might be answered.

If things went well, I might even be able to untangle this whole complicated mess.

And…

‘…No good. I must be too tired, I can’t think anymore.’

Tonight, I’d just go and bury myself in bed without thinking about anything else.

"Hm?"

Just then, I suddenly stopped in my tracks at the sight of something.

Hair so red it stood out even in the dark of night.

It was Allen.

Had he been training all this time? I thought so, and was about to call out to him out of fondness when I noticed he wasn’t alone—and barely managed to hold my tongue.

"That’s…"

An Elf.

The same Elf who had approached us during class and spoken to us.

His name was Jeil Envarso, wasn’t it?

‘Have they gotten close already?’

Allen and Envarso were chatting about something.

Looking closely, it seemed like Envarso was asking questions, and Allen was answering them.

Envarso’s expression remained unreadable as always, while Allen was smiling—but anyone could see that he was clearly uncomfortable.

Soon after, Envarso bowed his head slightly to Allen and walked away.

Once he was out of sight, Allen finally let out a small sigh of relief.

As I approached him, I greeted him quietly.

"Allen."

"Ah, Lian."

Allen responded, glancing subtly around.

"Are you just getting back?"

"You too—it seems you’ve been training all this time?"

"Haha… I have no talent, so I need to work hard, at least."

"As always, so modest."

While we talked, the spider on his shoulder slowly revealed itself.

―Kkkiiing! Ing!

It raised its front legs and waved them enthusiastically, clearly happy to see me.

It was a sign that everything was fine.

Watching the little guy wave its legs joyfully, Allen stepped a little closer to me.

"…Um, there’s something I wanted to ask."

He looked around again, then spoke cautiously.

"Do you… have any kind of relationship with the Elf named Jeil Envarso?"

"What kind of relationship?"

"Ah… that came out weird. I mean, do you happen to know him personally or anything?"

"No, I only met him that time with you."

"Is that so…"

Allen tilted his head, a confused look on his face.

It was the first time I’d seen him react like this.

"Actually, I was just training when he suddenly came and talked to me."

"What did he say?"

"Nothing special. He saw me training and asked if I could spar with him."

"A spar? With swords?"

"Uh… no. He used an axe."

"An Elf who uses an axe? That’s unusual."

Allen nodded.

"But I don’t think just that would’ve made you react this way… So what else happened?"

"To be honest, the spar itself was normal."

Allen said they had exchanged a few probing moves, traded blows with no clear winner, and then stopped at Envarso’s suggestion that it was enough.

But what bothered him was what Envarso said afterward.

"He said he probably wouldn’t be of much help."

"Wouldn’t be of help? What’s that supposed to mean?"

"I’m not sure either… He just suddenly said that, then added that he knew someone who could be of help instead, and that he’d try talking to that person. And then…"

He said Envarso just sat there watching him train in silence.

Allen was usually unfazed by being watched, but when someone stared that intently, it was a different story.

Eventually, when Allen quietly stopped, Envarso approached him again—like he’d been waiting.

"And then he asked about you."

"What?"

I asked, thinking I’d misheard.

"Me?"

"Yes. He asked all sorts of things about you."

Allen continued with a troubled expression.

"But the questions were a bit… no, very strange."

"What kind of things did he ask?"

"Well…"

Allen swallowed dryly and glanced at me hesitantly.

"He asked what you like, how we became friends, who your other friends are… things like that."

"……What?"

I was momentarily speechless.

Allen, watching me, muttered while looking toward the direction Envarso had disappeared.

"Anyway, I think you should be careful. Elves are known to be strong-willed and hard to read, but… something about him is just…"

He trailed off for a moment.

It looked like he was struggling to find a way to soften his words.

"He’s strange. Yes, very strange."

"…Yeah, I’ll be careful."

That was all I could say.

And the next day—

Without so much as a greeting, Cecilia approached me and asked,

"Lian. What’s your relationship with the Elf named Jeil Envarso?"