LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 32
EP.32 Old Bonds (4)
Snap!
A lively sound of fingers snapping echoed. A small spark flew out. That was the end of it.
‘Did the spell fail?’
At first, Belnoa thought so. Nothing seemed to happen. Just then, something caught Belnoa’s eye.
‘…Ash?’
Ash particles scattered in the air.
Dust as gray as her hair. Even though no wind blew, the ash floated and danced in the air.
And.
That scattering had a direction.
Gwooooon?
The undead, now gathered into a wall.
The ash scattered towards the undead. Its speed was neither slow nor fast. It was the kind of pace you’d see when flower petals sway in the wind.
Tick.
The moment it touched the undead.
Tick, tidick.
A small spark flew.
A very tiny spark, weak enough not to become a flame.
“Close your eyes.”
“Yes?”
“Don’t say you dislike it.”
Rania closed her eyes.
Belnoa tilted her head.
“It’s probably going to hurt your eyes.”
It didn’t take long for Belnoa to understand the meaning of those words.
Whoosh!
In an instant, a flash of light burst forth.
A gust of hot wind followed after a brief moment.
“…Ugh!”
Belnoa hurriedly raised her arms to cover her face.
She finally closed her eyes as an afterthought. Even with her eyes shut, blinding lights danced around.
‘What is this?’
The heat didn’t last long. The flash was the same. It only shone once, and then it fell silent.
After waiting for a moment.
When the heat faded, Belnoa slowly opened her eyes.
“Uh?”
Belnoa blinked.
‘…Gone?’
The undead that should have been there was nowhere to be found. That massive figure had vanished without a trace.
No, there were traces.
Ash flowed along the waterway. It wasn’t hard to imagine what those ashes once were.
Cough, cough, ugh.
Rania waved her hand as she coughed dryly. She stepped on the charred floor and headed into the waterway.
“…”
Belnoa stood there dazed.
‘What kind of spell was that?’
She couldn’t comprehend the principle. It seemed like several spells were mixed, but she couldn’t even guess the structure.
‘…Let’s just let it be.’
Had there not been one or two of these things before?
From the Mana Spring onward, that professor was a person full of incomprehensible things.
“What are you doing? Hurry up and come!”
“…I’m coming now.”
She was still a strange and unique person.
So, she decided to think of it that way.
*
The end of the waterway approached.
No undead rushed in anymore.
‘Something’s off.’
Rania frowned.
In her opinion, this situation was strange. Moreover, the more she moved, the itchier her skin became.
The sensation was familiar.
An already familiar sensation.
“…”
Rania narrowed her eyes.
Her senses still felt like they belonged to the battlefield. She hadn’t yet adapted to a peaceful life.
It felt strange.
Everything about the peaceful atmosphere and the royal capital, which lacked any trace of malice, felt strange to her.
However, right now.
Rania felt a sense of familiarity.
That long-lost familiarity now came with a sense of unease.
‘Whatever is at that end…’
It probably shouldn’t be here. Concluding that, Rania began to walk a bit faster.
Tap.
At last, she reached the end of the waterway.
“…Ugh.”
As soon as she arrived in that wide space, Belnoa pinched her nose. A foul smell wafted through the air.
‘What is that?’
Belnoa had no clue what lay at the end of the waterway. All she felt was that it was grotesque.
“Ha.”
However, Rania wasn’t confused.
She knew what it was.
“Of course.”
Her expression twisted into a grimace.
Belnoa unintentionally took a step back.
Swish.
The sound of fabric brushing against itself was heard.
She rolled up her sleeves. Then, she stretched her arms forward. As she did, mana surged.
“…Professor?”
The momentum felt unusual.
Belnoa cautiously asked, but.
“Stay back.”
The cold response came back.
“I checked what’s at the end.”
“…That’s right.”
Clap! She clapped her hands.
“You can break it now.”
“Pardon?”
What does that even mean? Belnoa thought she had no time to ask. She moved before he could even open his mouth.
Soon.
Boom!
A massive shockwave engulfed the waterway.
2.
“…I’m off, old man.”
“Right, Chloe said she’d be waiting at the fountain.”
“…”
“She’s waiting at the fountain, you know? Aren’t you gonna answer?”
“Ah, yeah.”
Creak. Belnoa opened the door and stepped out.
For some reason, her steps felt strangely devoid of strength.
Thud.
After she left, Cardi drummed on the table. The old man’s figure faded, returning to the form of a young man.
I shot Cardi a disapproving glance.
“…Is there a reason to hide?”
“It’s more comforting to appear as a kind old man than a young elf.”
“Hmm…”
He didn’t look very kind to me.
‘He seems tough and grumpy.’
He seemed far from kind.
As I entertained that thought, Cardi began to speak.
“By the way, Raniel. What exactly did you show him?”
“Hmm?”
“That guy Belnoa, he looks completely spaced out. What in the world did you show him?”
“I did make it a bit loud.”
Because it was a hassle to erase it completely.
‘A better method would have been for Kyle to just swipe with the Holy Sword…’
The Holy Sword could fix most things just by touching them. But Kyle wasn’t here. So, I imitated the Holy Sword a bit…
‘It was indeed quite loud.’
The Holy Sword was inherently loud, what was I supposed to do?
“What was it like?”
“Something like this.”
I roughly sketched a drawing for Cardi.
Upon seeing the drawing, Cardi let out a groan.
“…It would make you feel like something’s creeping around.”
“It’s a fitting metaphor, I guess.”
“It’ll probably get noisy soon.”
“That seems likely.”
I muttered while resting my chin on my hand.
“From experience, things like that are never solitary.”
“…Well, anyway, good job dealing with it. Belnoa might have struggled on her own.”
Cardi retrieved a box from under the shelf. About a dozen potions were packed inside.
“One bottle a month, for an entire year.”
“Hmm.”
I picked up one potion bottle.
“Can I drink it now?”
“Why not? It’s a gift.”
I uncorked the bottle and downed the potion.
The effects manifested immediately. The circuit that had been frantically working to suppress the curse began to calm down.
“Oh.”
The performance was solid.
“You’re really amazing.”
“Well, I don’t know who the amazing one is.”
“Should I learn alchemy too? Can people create things like this if they train it to the extreme?”
At my words, Cardi smiled bitterly.
“That’s the wrong order, Raniel.”
“Hmm?”
“Alchemy didn’t produce this potion at its peak. This was created when my kingdom was still thriving before I became an alchemist.”
He looked at the potion bottle with a nostalgic gaze.
“Becoming an alchemist was to search for what comes next.”
“What’s next?”
“A complete way to drive out the curse. However, I still haven’t found it.”
As he said this, Cardi slowly rose from his seat. He then extended his hand towards me.
“Thank you, Raniel.”
“…Suddenly? Cleaning the waterway was a request, wasn’t it?”
“That’s not what I meant to say.”
I took his hand and stood up.
I gazed into those yellowish eyes. Those eyes always gave a strange feeling. Was it that his gaze seemed a bit droopy today?
‘He looks aged despite being young.’
I was reminded of how long a life he had experienced, being an elf. After standing there for a while gazing at each other, it was Cardi who finally spoke first.
“You’ve faced the Demon Lord and yet…”
He began slowly.
“You still remain as you are.”
He gave a faint smile.
“That’s what I’m grateful for.”
“What are you talking about?”
Snicker, I chuckled softly.
Even after five years, he still spoke of incomprehensible matters like an oddball.
“I’ll see you next time, Cardi.”
“Yeah, next time.”
He murmured.
“Definitely.”
His voice sounded like he was speaking to someone else, not me.
3.
“Ah.”
Resti let out a sigh unconsciously.
She pushed aside the papers stacked on her desk. Then, she placed only one sheet in the center.
She infused mana into the paper.
Soon, circuits emerged in the air.
“Done.”
Two circuits hovered in the air.
Looking at the circuits, Resti murmured.
“…I solved it.”
On Apuria’s holy rest day.
Resti spent most of those three days solving this problem.
-Can you solve it?
That one question had been swirling in her mind, preventing her from doing anything else until she did.
“Finally, I solved it.”
Her voice bursting with excitement, Resti felt her heart racing. Although it took a long time, and it was incredibly tough…
‘In the end, I did it.’
She managed to figure it out.
The fact that she did so brought her pure joy.
“Whew!”
After stretching lazily, Resti organized the solution. She drew the circuits on new paper.
The circuit was fascinating the more she pondered it.
While it was common to mix circuits, she had never seen a circuit with such a unique fusion method.
‘Not a combination, but friction.’
It doesn’t connect wires by overlaying them.
Wires rub against each other. That creates the distortion that serves as the driving force of the spell.
She didn’t know how to read each of those spells.
She merely unraveled the circuit; she still didn’t know how to properly channel mana.
‘I hope the rest day ends quickly.’
So she could ask questions.
Resti smiled gently as she repeatedly fidgeted with her notebook. The image of Rania drawing the circuits for her popped into her mind.
‘I should tuck it in here.’
Cautiously, Resti slipped the paper on which she had written all the answers into her notebook, checking multiple times to ensure it didn’t get crumpled.
After completing that task, Resti suddenly checked the time.
3 PM; it was still early for Apuria’s amenities to be closed.
‘The café.’
Suddenly, the place came to mind.
The café where Professor Rania often visits.
‘It probably won’t be open since it’s a holy day…’
With that possibility in mind, Resti took her notebook and headed to the café. Since it was near the Central Academic Hall, it didn’t take long to get there.
Jingle.
“Welcome!”
Upon hearing the proprietor’s voice, Resti slightly nodded. Then, she quickly scanned the inside of the shop.
‘Just as I thought, no one here.’
It was a bit disappointing, but she hadn’t expected much, so she wasn’t too let down. Still, not wanting to just leave, Resti ordered a cup of coffee and sat by the window.
As she looked out the window…
“Ugh.”
Suddenly, a sound came from beside her.
“…?”
Glancing over, she saw a boy sitting next to her.
His face looked familiar.
“…Lac?”
A student from the advanced Mana Trading Studies class.
Even apart from that, Resti knew Lac. The prospective Master of the Tower had introduced herself to the disciples of various towers.
“Um.”
Lac, who protruded his tongue, turned to Resti. He then nodded briefly.
“Resti, right? Nice to meet you.”
“…What are you doing?”
“Drinking black water.”
…Black water?
“Are you talking about coffee?”
“I think that’s how it’s referred to.”
“Why do you have your tongue like that?”
“Hmm…”
Lac groaned a bit.
“It’s bitter.”
“…What?”
“It’s bitter and hot. It doesn’t taste good.”
“…Then why are you drinking it?”
“I thought it would be worth a try if I became a more enlightened person after listening to that lecture…”
I had no idea what he was talking about.
“…If it’s bitter, why not add syrup?”
“Syrup?”
“Give it here.”
Resti added a few drops of syrup to Lac’s coffee. She then slid the coffee cup back to him.
“Here.”
“Hmm.”
Lac looked at the coffee cup as if it were poison. He seemed doubtful.
“…It’s bitter and hot.”
“That’s why I added syrup.”
“Still black…”
“Then coffee is black; it won’t be white, will it?”
“That’s a point…”
After hesitating for a while, Lac finally carefully lifted the coffee cup. He slightly parted his lips and slowly tipped the cup.
“Oh!”
Then he gasped with wide eyes.
“It’s less bitter!”
He shouted.
“It actually seems a little sweet!”
“Yeah, right.”
‘Didn’t notice it before…’
He seems a bit slow.
Resti pulled away from Lac a little.