“I came to see you. Just a few days ago, Kanamin brought me out of the Dungeon.”
“I’ve been waiting for you, Sovereign Queen Lorde. Over the past year, I have prepared various things for you. In the North, we are recreating the Viaysia of the past. Let us start over again. This time, let us fulfill the dream we could not achieve a thousand years ago. Together, the two of us, once more...”
As soon as the greetings ended, Ide had demanded the return of the Sovereign Queen.
Upon hearing that, Titee frowned and muttered. “The dream, huh?” She lowered her head as she repeated part of her brother’s words. However, she quickly raised her head again and replied with unwavering words. “No, Ide. No matter how much you try to replicate it, the country you have prepared in the North is not the Viaysia of our childhood. No matter what substitute you put in place, the Sovereign Queen Lorde will never return. Those two things no longer exist anywhere. They just don’t.” She conveyed the answer she had reached after being seen off by the people of Viaysia directly to her younger brother.
“Sovereign Queen Lorde? What are you talking about?” Of course, Ide couldn’t easily accept that answer.
“The Viaysia where we grew up has perished. And the Sovereign Queen Lorde from a thousand years ago is also dead. We must not distort that fact. If we distort it, our own lives will be distorted as well,” Titee said.
Upon hearing those words, Ide finally seemed to realize that his own wish was being denied. In a flustered manner, he tried to justify the things he had prepared.
“No, that’s not true! There’s no such thing as a life that can’t be redone! Sure, it won’t be exactly the same, but I’m confident that I can recreate a country that’s almost the same as before! It’ll be okay! Most importantly, the Sovereign Queen has returned! That’s proof that things are the same as before! The sorcerers of the North will be saved by the Sovereign Queen Lorde once again! That legend will once again resound across the continent!”
From those words, it became clear that Ide was obsessed with recreating the past. It was the same thing his sister had been doing in the Dungeon. That was why Titee continued to strongly reject it.
“No, Ide,” she said. “Even if I were to save the Northern people now, they’d be a different people from the ones of the past! There are no longer any oppressed sorcerers anywhere! I’ve traveled through many countries to get here! I’ve seen the cities! In every single one of those countries, the semifer were happy! They were standing shoulder to shoulder with humans! There’s no way I could ever say it’s the same as before, even if my life depended on it!”
Having seen the modern cityscapes of the Allied Nations and Cork, Titee insisted that the world had changed beyond recognition. Ide was taken aback by this counterargument. Even from his voice alone, it was clear.
“That is something I have also felt. Now, the term ‘sorcerer’ has disappeared from this world. It was likely eradicated after our deaths through the governance of the surviving Saint Tiara. No, not by us, but by the hands of Saint Tiara!” He acknowledged Titee’s point. However, instead of rejoicing that his lifelong ambition had been fulfilled, Ide’s voice was filled with bitterness as he continued. “Therefore, I am planning to sorcererify the people living in the North. Just as before, I will turn Viaysia into a land where demons dwell. Therefore, there is no problem! There is no problem, and we can continue with our plan, our Sovereign Queen Lorde!”
There was desperation in Ide’s voice too as he insisted that the war continue.
“Sorcererify?” Titee repeated the most ominous part of his claim, looking stunned. I’d never heard that term before either. But from the sound of it, I didn’t have a good feeling.
“Sorcererification means reactivating the blood of our fellow beings who have stabilized as semifer. Yes, if it’s disappeared, we just need to create a new shared understanding of what a sorcerer is. We’ll create new beings whose bodies are corrupted by magicbane and who are rejected by society due to their abnormalities!”
“Wait, Ide. Don’t you find it strange what you’re saying? Saint Tiara probably changed the word ‘sorcerer’ to ‘semifer’ because she knew your wish. She tried to fulfill your dying wish in your place. The fact that the word sorcerer no longer exists is the result of your wish being fulfilled, isn’t it? Yet here you are, trying to create new sorcerers.”
What Ide was trying to do was create a new subjugated race if there wasn’t one for him to save.
From that explanation, Titee realized Ide’s abnormality and contradiction.
“What?” Ide’s voice was puzzled as he responded. “The term ‘semifer’ was my wish? No, it was Sovereign Queen Lorde. My wish was not to eliminate the existence of sorcerers. As the chancellor to the Sovereign Queen, my wish was to create a paradise for the sorcerers. That is all. Yes, my wish has always been to bring peace to the world! Together, you and I will bring peace!”
“Ide... That’s impossible, it can’t be done.” It must have been painful for her to see herself as she’d once been. Titee kept shaking her head at Ide, who was trying to create a paradise for those who were no longer there.
“Yes, as you said, it will be difficult! If all the people of the nation were to undergo sorcererification, it would be a daunting task! However, since we are immortal beings, we can take as much time as we need! Therefore, someday, we will definitely succeed! Even if it takes hundreds of years! Even if a thousand years pass, someday, our dream will definitely come true!”
“A thousand years?! Don’t speak so lightly! You don’t understand what it means to live for a thousand years!!!” A thousand years of life had been a traumatic experience for Titee. She shouted angrily at Ide, but her feelings didn’t reach her brother.