CH 116

Lucion answered without hesitation, but Russell didn’t feel good.

“Using shadow movement….”

[The distance is a bit far. You’ll have to lose a whole day.]

At those words, Lucion briefly turned his eyes.

He cared about the notebook because he didn’t know when the warlock, who would be Heint’s colleague, would take it.

However, he hadn’t brought it up until Russell gave his permission, fearing that it would be hard for him to go to the place where he had lived.

‘Of course, I didn’t think of a method to go there because I thought I would go at later date.’

The creases between Lucion’s brows deepened.

He had no friends,  saying that he was going out to play would be ridiculous and he didn’t know any nobles in the West.

“Well, if we don’t have a way, we have to make one. We still have time before the auction house opens.”

The auction house opened four days later.

* * *

“You can’t.”

Novio let go of the fork he was holding and spoke firmly.

[I knew it. It isn’t an easy thing to allow.]

Russell scratched the back of his head.

Last time in the Great Light Temple, his interests happened to coincide with Novio’s, but not now.

Lucion had a lot of enemies.

It was difficult for Russell to say anything because he understood Novio’s heart.

“Father, I want you to tell me specifically why I can’t go.”

But Lucion was unshakable.

Carson briefly looked at Lucion with astonished eyes.

“It’s only one day.”

It was just one day, as Lucion said.

Luminos was destroyed, and the affair regarding the Kingdom of Nevast had somehow quietened down.

He thought now was the right time to travel.

“Weren’t you going to leave for the South in three days? There is no reason why you should leave now.”

“As Father said, I will leave in three days, not tomorrow. Is it still not safe?”

Novio faltered for a moment when Lucion hit the mark.

“Father, I think we should first hear where Lucion is going.”

Carson felt sorry for Lucion, who had been at home all week.

“Yes. I was getting agitated.”

Novio kept trying hard to hold onto the strings of reason.

“Where did you want to go that you brought this up?”

“The fortress wall.”

Lucion replied.

The closest place to the rocky area was the fortress wall.

Russell told him that he could use shadow movement to get there at that distance.

Tak!

Carson rose from his seat.

“What… did you just say?”

His voice trembled.

[Why did you ask for that place? No, to get to the rocky area, you have to pass that place anyway…]

At the same time, Russell’s expression also became complicated.

“The fortress wall. The fortress wall at the end of the frontier.”

Lucion smiled at Carson as if to reassure him, but Carson looked guilty and his hands trembled.

“I also want to go out into the world as a Cronia.”

Then Lucion turned his head and looked at Novio.

Novio had also turned pale.

Anyone born in Cronia had to stop by the wall and see what kind of frontier they would guard.

Lucion had to do it too, but he couldn’t.

No, he couldn’t go.

Isn’t that place like a terrible nightmare for him and his family in their every waking moment?

“Allow me, Father.”

But he couldn’t turn a blind eye to it.

This moment was necessary for everyone, not just for him.

The memory of him being kidnapped by an enemy country, an opportunity to cover it with new memories had come.

‘I have to seize the opportunity. Without fail.’

“…Sit down, Carson.”

Novio groaned and spoke to Carson.

“But Father… I am very worried. That… For Lucion, I don’t want to remember again…”

“Sit down, Carson.”

Novio ordered Carson again.

He knew why Carson was so agitated, but Novio reacted more calmly than Carson because he thought this day would come someday.

Carson bit his lip and forced himself to sit down.

“Lucion.”

Novio’s voice was soft.

“Yes, Father.”

“You must have thought and worried over it to bring this up.”

“That’s right. I want to surpass myself at this time.”

“Yes, Lucion.”

Novio was relieved.

This decision was Lucion’s alone, so he put aside his judgment for now.

“But it’s not as easy as you think. It might bring up memories that you don’t want to bring up, and you might lock yourself in the room like before. …Are you prepared?”

“I am prepared.”

At Lucion’s answer, Novio smiled.

That child was no longer weak.

He could be trusted.

“Okay. Then go and come back.”

“I see. Thank you, Father.”

“I…I will follow you. Please allow me, Father.”

Carson immediately spat out.

His eyes looked uneasy, but Novio readily allowed him.

“Go ahead, Carson.”

Novio might not have allowed it if Lucion hadn’t brought up that he was going to the wall first.

As such, this problem was his own pain to deal with, as well as Carson’s and Lucion’s.

* * *

[…But I think you’re overdoing it.]

Bethel looked anxiously at Lucion.

As Bethel herself had feared, she was told that Russell had lost his memory.

She knew how big of a deal it was, but Lucion was just as important as Russell.

“No. I am not. I would have said it if I couldn’t do it even if it was Teacher’s request.”

Lucion grinned and took out the mask from the drawer.

“I was going to go to the rocky area anyway. So I hope Teacher doesn’t feel uncomfortable, too.”

[…I’m sorry.]

Russell couldn’t bear to look at Lucion.

Whatever the reason was, didn’t he just push his disciple into the pit of fire?

His heart was heavy.

“I said I would go. So you don’t have to feel sorry anymore.”

Lucion didn’t like the heavy atmosphere.

Roll.

In that strange atmosphere, Ratta carried a ball and dropped the ball, and then she turned her head fiercely.

―Are you fighting? Ratta will give you this ball, so don’t fight, okay?

Ratta hurriedly put the ball in her mouth and sat down in front of Lucion.

“I told you, Ratta. I respect Teacher.”

Lucion smiled.

Russell also answered immediately, conscious of Ratta.

[That’s right. We’re not fighting.]

Ratta’s eyes were on Bethel.

[Me too…?]

When Ratta’s eyes twitched at Bethel, she hurriedly said.

[We’re not fighting, we’re just having a serious conversation.]

―Yes! That’s a relief! Ratta likes to get along well with everyone!

Only then Ratta wagged her tail eagerly and smiled.

Knock. Knock.

―It’s Hume! I think we’re leaving now!

“Young Master.”

Hume opened the door and came inside.

“It is time to depart. Are you ready?”

What would he take care of if Lucion took care of himself?

“Yes.”

When Lucion got up, Ratta grabbed the ball and excitedly followed him.

Beep!

The ball made a noise.

“Young Master, who are you going to take with you when you come to the South?”

“Why do you ask? What did Antony secretly say to you?”

“No. Rather than hearing something from him, I briefly looked at the list written by Anthony-nim.”

“Tell me how many people will follow me.”

At Lucion’s instruction, Russell and Bethel quickly pricked their ears up.

“There are fifteen people in attendance.”

“Too much.”

[That’s too much.]

[I agree.]

Russell and Bethel nodded.

“The knights… 50 people.”

“Just the knights?”

Lucion’s eyebrows twitched.

“Yes. Just the knight. Including soldiers… I think there will be 200 people.”

“…?”

Lucion stopped walking.

At that moment, he felt like he was going to war.

[That’s too much. Are you going to wage a territorial war?]

Bethel freaked out.

“…Ah! I also heard Anthony-nim muttering that this number was not enough.”

Recalling the situation at the time, Hume even brought up the words he hadn’t said.

‘This isn’t enough?’

Lucion’s eyes widened.

[That’s right. It’s not enough.]

Lucion reacted in disbelief as Russell nodded his head in agreement.

“…Really?”

[If warlocks appear, it’s not enough. If they don’t, it’s too much, as Bethel said. The best way here is to have a priest come along, but that’s going to be difficult.]

‘A priest…’

Lucion suddenly felt uneasy.

“Hume.”

“Yes, Young Master.”

“Heint isn’t on the list Anthony wrote down, right?”

“Yes. He’s not there.”

“I see.”

Lucion felt uncomfortable, but first of all, he thought that controlling the number of attendants and soldiers he would take with him to the South was the first priority.

* * *

“…Lucion?”

Lucion frowned at Carson’s voice and opened his eyes in surprise.

The carriage had stopped.

“Did I… doze off for a moment?”

He didn’t show it when he rode the carriage, but his heart was pounding from the tension.

He thought he’d probably stay like that until he got to the wall.

[Yeah. You sleep so well that you wouldn’t even realize if someone gave you a piggyback ride.]

Russell giggled.

“Did you sleep well?”

Carson smiled.

It was much better to fall asleep than to tremble.

Lucion wiped his saliva from his mouth and looked down at something in his thighs.

Ratta was sleeping soundly, stretched out like a freshly baked rice cake.

“She was playing catch-the-tail alone and begged me to play with her. I played with her for a while, and she got so tired that she fell asleep.”

Carson put the book he had on his side into his pocket.

‘Making Ratta exhausted. As expected, you’re really an older brother.’

Lucion’s gaze moved through the window.

“Have we arrived?”

“Yes. We’ve arrived.”

Carson examined Lucion’s condition.

Nothing happened yet. He was happy, but he felt worried.

“Lucion.”

“Yes, Brother.”

“By any chance, if you’re not feeling well, tell me.”

“I’m fine now.”

Lucion grinned.

“Yeah. If you feel anything strange, you have to tell me.”

“Okay. Let’s get off first. I was young, so I can’t remember what the end of the border was like.”

Lucion thought it would be all right this time.

When he was young, when he came to the fortress wall with Carson, the memory that the world was wide was still clear through the wooden carriage he rode.

He was so surprised when he got kidnapped,  but he had no bad memories of the wall itself.

“I’ll take her. Aren’t you uncomfortable with your arms?”

Carson got off first with Ratta in his arms, and Lucion smiled at Russell and Bethel, who looked at him anxiously.

Tak.

As soon as his feet touched the ground, he saw a huge and high fortress wall that seemed to touch the sky.

A heavy smell weighed on his shoulders like a living being, until he felt infinitely smaller.

‘…Wow.’

The air, the wind, no, everything at the end of the frontier stood firm.

Lucion wasn’t accustomed to this heavy atmosphere.

It’s the same sky and the same tree, but why are they so different?

It was so different from when he was young.

‘…This really is a battlefield.’

Thud.

[Lucion. Get a grip.]

As Lucion was swept away by the atmosphere, Russell gripped his shoulder tightly.

Lucion finally came to his senses and let out a heavy breath.

“Lucion? Are you okay?”

When there was no sound behind him, Carson looked back.

“I was looking around. The wall… is bigger than I imagined.”

[Even more so because there are a lot of ghosts around here. You’re a warlock, so you can’t help but get affected.]

Russell didn’t show Lucion how many ghosts there were.

So many deaths happened here, so the ghosts were all fallen.

Russell himself was shaken, so Lucion must be shocked.

“Yes. Sometimes I’m overwhelmed by this place, too.”

Carson smiled.

“That’s excellent, Lucion.”

“…What?”

“There are many people who take the first step here and run away. Perhaps because of the atmosphere here.”

Carson pointed to Lucion’s foot.

Following Carson’s fingertips, Lucion looked down.

A thick line was painted on the side of the road, centered around signs with warnings attached to both sides of the road.

His feet were over the line.

“Welcome to the end of the border, Lucion.”

With Carson’s words, Lucion faced a red thread. He didn’t know where it was connected to.