Black Badger - Chapter 410



Only Noblemtl

410. 50 years (3)

I tried the experiment several times.

But it seemed like Cecil was right. If you were to cast a spell on me, you would have to use nearly twice as much mana as the ‘normal amount of mana’. Everything from making me float into the air to changing my hair color.

‘But it’s in another dimension?’

I muttered, feeling so dumbfounded.

‘Is the previous one that powerful? Isn’t Kyle not from this world?’

‘I guess so.’

Cecil muttered as he turned my hair, which had been black, back to white.

‘I didn’t know the connection could be this strong…’

Research on the children of the World Tree continued steadily until the fall of the empire.

Subject to the temple and the magic tower. However, I was not interested in the research. Because every time I came across research on the children of the World Tree, I kept thinking of the village that made me feel sick.

But it seems like he doesn’t know Cecil very well.

She said she was lost in thought for a long time.

‘I’ve cured you to this point, so the healing spell must have been passed on to Kyle as well.’

ah.

‘It’s really strange that the spell you gave him still affects him even though you haven’t done it yet… .’

Yeah, that’s weird too.

Although, you can’t do any experiments with this.

‘Anyway, he’s alive.’

The Archmage concluded.

‘I can’t confirm his current condition, but Kyle is alive.’

Those words flew into my heart and struck me deeply.

A variety of emotions boiled up inside me. I had been standing like a statue for quite some time, but the moment I heard Cecil’s words, emotions that I wanted to describe as violent surged up.

No attempt was made to explore each and every emotion.

Instead, I recognized the situation.

‘I’m here?’

I looked at the wizard and muttered blankly.

‘Kyle is the only one left over there?’

Is it possible to be both deeply relieved and insanely afraid at the same time by news of someone’s survival?

I shuddered at the news the wizard brought.

I have to go back.

And I thought about those who were left behind.

I have to go back to my subordinates.

***

He threw away his role as a stone statue.

Instead, I found an exit.

‘Hasn’t that strange creature been coming lately?’

‘You haven’t come since I came.’

Cecil answered hesitantly.

‘You come and go as you please… I don’t even know how to get here. I’m sorry I couldn’t be of any help.’

‘no.’

I dug through the ruins.

If there is an entrance, there must be an exit.

I had hopes that it would be easier to enter than other dimensions. I had no idea what the entrance would look like or if it even existed, but I wanted to do what I could.

Turn the ruins over and look for anything unusual.

Now, thanks to Cecil, I can move my arms and legs.

It’s a place with no end in sight, but all I have left is time.

If I had a sword, I could sweep away the surrounding area in one go, but… .

‘You’re not fully recovered yet.’

Cecil followed me as I lifted up pieces of cement and rebar.

‘Isn’t there a need to be impatient? There’s no way you’ll find anything if you keep digging around like that. I said that the only things that will shine are fragments of other people’s memories…’

‘But didn’t you say there was a way out?’

I searched the ruins without paying attention to the wizard.

I wasn’t going to miss even the slightest anomaly. Since this place was made up of black and white, the shiny things easily caught my eye. As Cecil said, all the shiny things I’d encountered so far were other people’s memories.

If there was a possibility, I would look into it regardless.

Cecil flinched every time I grabbed the shining thing without hesitation, but after repeating this dozens of times, she gave up trying to stop me.

The wizard continued to provide treatment.

Chasing after me without even giving me proper attention.

‘I’m really sorry.’

‘yes?’

‘I saw the memories on my own last time….’

‘Oh, that’s okay.’

‘I haven’t seen everything.’

She kept following me around and apologized several times.

I wonder if he thought I answered too carelessly and that he was still angry.

Or maybe she was just overwhelmed with guilt because the things she had seen of my past were so shocking. Either way, it didn’t matter.

I don’t know what condition Kyle is in right now.

I had no way of knowing what kind of situation my men were in. Ignorance fueled my anxiety, so I didn’t stop until Cecil put on the brakes.

What if Kyle, now recovered, pushes the humans to the limit this time?

Even if we can’t go that far, what if we go after and cut off the heads of those we believe have betrayed their people?

The best part was that the war was over and Kyle was able to gather together the remaining members of his people and blend in with human society without anyone noticing.

But it was likely that it wouldn’t have worked out that well.

‘It’s time to heal.’

Cecil stopped me periodically.

‘Come here and sit down. I’ll treat you. You know you’re not completely healed yet.’

‘I don’t have any major discomfort in moving around, so I think it’s okay to stop treatment now.’

‘Can you move your body as nimbly as before?’

She always flatly disagreed with my opinion.

‘I’m used to your stubbornness.’

Cecil said as he treated me while I was forced to sit down.

‘That guy did that often too.’

‘Are you talking about Kissis?’

‘that’s right.’

I didn’t see her memories.

Cecil offered to show me, but I refused. I didn’t have the mental capacity to do so.

However, I do have some questions.

‘How did you meet Kissis?’

In the Empire, questions are asked that no one would dare to ask.

A story that many people have wondered about, but no one has ever heard the truth.

‘It’s a cliche. I saved the day when I heard that the man was possessed by a demon.’

Cecil answered quietly.

‘I was born with a lot of mana in my body, so I did all sorts of strange things. But I was born into a family that believed in strange things, so at some point I was treated as a dead daughter. I was the second daughter of a noble family, but I grew up in a barn.’

‘So that’s what Kissis saved you from.’

‘Kisis was young too. When he was about 15 years old.’

It was a long time ago.

‘Even if I tell you that my family is extinct, you won’t know.’

Well, that must have happened before I reached the zodiac.

Usually, when someone with a lot of mana is born, it is said that they are a wizard, but seeing as they are talking about the devil, it seems like they did not believe in the World Tree normally.

It seems that the family was obsessed with heresy.

They would do things that would make even I, who had seen everything, sick.

‘I was suffering from aphasia when I was rescued.’

There was no emotion in her voice as she spoke of the events that the Empire had covered up.

‘For a long time, I thought I was born with a speech impediment. I grew up always getting scolded for not being able to speak properly.’

‘So that’s why you were reluctant to talk.’

‘Even though things have gotten a lot better, the wounds from childhood never heal without scars.’

Kissis helped her correct her speech.

He said he didn’t do anything special. He just helped her regain her speech by being patient, steady, and without making a fuss.

Eventually, I was able to speak normally, but the scars from the persecution remained.

She said she only talked much when she was left alone with Kissis.

‘I did it for a long time in front of you, but you didn’t notice.’

Cecil smiled faintly.

I blinked.

‘Was it so?’

‘Yeah. You were strangely more comfortable than other people.’

He said that he was sometimes at ease with the fact that he grew up in a Shinto family and that he treated people without any concern about their social status, which was surprising at times.

However, there were too many people around me, so I couldn’t talk longer.

‘Kissis also loved you especially.’

‘Is that so?’

When I answered absentmindedly, Cecil looked at me sadly.

After finishing the treatment as usual, he made a quiet suggestion.

‘I know you don’t feel like sleeping, but you can still sleep. How about sleeping sometimes?’

‘I want to go back as soon as possible.’

‘… Do you know that sometimes you just sit there blankly without moving?’

My eyes widened at the astonishing information.

The sadness in Cecil’s eyes grew deeper.

‘He didn’t hear even when I called him, and he didn’t wake up even when I shook him.’

It was a fact I hadn’t realized until I heard her speak.

‘After a long silence, I came to my senses.’

But Cecil cried a little, saying that he didn’t have the ability to heal such things.

After wiping away her tears, she asked me if I could try to sleep.

‘Then maybe things will get better.’

I couldn’t refuse the offer.

***

I’ve been wandering the world for a long time.

It was a long time, even though the passage of time was unpredictable. I woke up and searched for the exit, and then received treatment. Even with the Archmage attached to me, I still couldn’t get better.

The body that had been burning up slowly regained its speed, almost to the point of exhaustion.

Sometimes I would get a fever of unknown origin.

Regardless, I never stopped trying to find a way back even while receiving treatment.

I didn’t go crazy. That must be because I had a companion, Cecil, and a firm goal.

We became friends.

It couldn’t be helped since there were only two left in the world.

‘Tell me what we were talking about last time.’

Cecil loved hearing stories about my experiences as a knight.

A life where I couldn’t actively come forward because of my wounds.

But the truth is, my story of wandering aimlessly through the world I desperately loved seemed interesting.

I also enjoyed telling Cecil old stories. She was a very responsive listener. It was like reading old stories to a child.

If you are human, this world must be so lonely.

If I had been left alone, I would have really lost my mind and gone crazy. Just like ‘it’, which is presumed to have been here alone for a long time.

For a while we traveled the world, sharing stories we knew.

I continued on my way through the ashen world.

***

At some point, Cecil started encouraging me to sleep longer.

They say that my time in silence is getting longer.

‘scared.’

Those were the words she uttered.

‘If you keep doing this, you might end up in a really irreversible state. If you think about it, it’s only natural that your condition will get worse. You keep looking back on your painful past and looking for a way out.’

‘I don’t think sleeping will cure it.’

I answered like that not because I didn’t like it, but because I thought it wasn’t a fundamental solution.

Cecil bit his lip.

‘That’s true.’

Even when I nagged him to stop biting his lips, he pretended not to hear me.

‘But I can’t leave it like this… Even without looking into the memories, this is a place where people can’t help but go crazy.’

‘Well, there’s no other way.’

‘no.’

Cecil shook his head.

Then he showed his bad habit of grabbing my head again.

‘I told you not to pull out your hair.’

‘I can’t just do nothing like this.’

The wizard, who continued to pace anxiously even after removing his hands from his head, raised his head after a while.

Then his eyes lit up.

‘How about forgetting the painful memories?’

I stared at her for a long time.

Because I didn’t understand it well.

After calmly gathering my thoughts, I answered.

‘I don’t want to do that.’

‘I won’t erase everything. I’ll just erase the memories that cause you pain, one by one, with as little conflict between the memories as possible.’

‘That doesn’t change reality.’

What more could there be than an attempt to evade it?

‘And if you cast a spell on me, won’t Kyle’s memories be erased too?’

‘I don’t think it would work unless we erased each other’s shared memories. Memory erasure magic is like a runaway cure magic, it takes a long time and careful work.’

Cecil then began to explain to me the history of how the memory erasure spell was developed and how it worked.

I listened to her story with my brow furrowed, then cut her off.

‘How far are you planning to erase?’

Cecil looked a little frightened, perhaps because he was clearly upset.

But she stubbornly said what she had to say.

‘It’s like the last moments of the war… .’

‘When Ray’s presence disappears?’

‘It’s better than you turning into a statue and ending your life. And even if the memory removal spell were to be transferred to Kyle, it wouldn’t be so bad, right? Wouldn’t it be better?’

‘well.’

I answered quietly.

‘I don’t know if this is a good idea, but I appreciate the intention. But I don’t want to forget Ray’s death.’

‘Now you can just think about yourself.’

Cecil did not back down.

‘We can’t just leave things like this! Enduring isn’t the answer. Just like when I tried to endure in the barn, things only got worse!’

This memory was abruptly cut off here.

As if someone had torn it apart.