If asked where I began, I can answer without hesitation. Ide, the Thief of Wood’s Essence, began in this very Viaysia Castle. A thousand years ago I served as the chancellor to the Kingdom of Viaysia. This place, which I guarded until the World Restoration Array ended everything, was always the place I considered to be my soul’s true home. And now I had returned to that home.
I gazed upon the throne room, perched at the castle’s pinnacle, lost in recollection. Unlike the throne rooms of other nations, the walls and floors of this chamber were thickly covered in ornamental plants. They were special plants enchanted with magic; channeling mana through them would capture any infiltrating spies. Several double-height windows flanked the room, with simple chairs arranged below them. A crimson carpet stretched from the main entrance to the highest seat, where the throne of our Sovereign Queen Lorde stood. Behind it, the cherished coat of arms of Viaysia fluttered in the breeze. The layout remained unchanged from my memories. The only difference, perhaps, were the desks that had been brought in and placed behind the thick pillars lining the room.
Moreover, unlike before, it was very quiet. Now, the Northern Alliance was shaking up the world order. At the very top, there were only three people in positions of power.
First, a quiet girl sat on the throne, her face bowed low, long black hair draped forward to conceal her features. Beside her stood a lovely girl with shorter, flowing golden hair. No, calling the black-haired girl quiet was a mistake. Calling the blonde girl lovely was equally wrong. Right now, the black-haired girl was asleep, and the blonde girl was possessed. They were merely deprived of their freedom of speech, afflicted by a very strange condition.
But perhaps I, standing beside a desk behind the pillar, was no different. Like those two girls, I too was already—
Having ended my communication spell, Tree’s Contact, I clenched my fist tightly. Then, as if to shake off the thought that had surfaced in my mind, I slammed my fist on the desk before me. Ignoring the vibration that sent the stacked documents tumbling off the desk, I pressed my hand to my forehead, lamenting the queen’s madness.
“Sovereign Queen Lorde... Why?”
Just moments ago, I’d spoken with the real Sovereign Queen Lorde, not the fake one sleeping here. From this throne room, I conducted a magical communication all the way to the Second Dungeon town of Dahrill, exchanging greetings with my queen for the first time in a thousand years. Yet beside our queen stood the knight who had betrayed us a millennium ago, the detested Kanami the Founder. My queen was not with me, but with that man...
Why did the Sovereign Queen Lorde still act alongside that traitor? Why did she refuse to accept the plan I proposed?
“I don’t understand...” I gazed up at the ceiling, murmuring to myself. I feared that if I didn’t say it aloud, I might retract those words. But saying I didn’t understand was a lie. I already knew the truth. Such words nearly slipped out. If I admitted it, my Sovereign Queen Lorde would vanish from this world. Naturally, the chancellor who’d stood by her side would disappear too. So I had no choice but to pretend I didn’t understand.
I was the chancellor. If the chancellor that I was were to vanish, nothing would remain. I had to continue on this path, even if I had to feign madness. Otherwise, I would become something far more terrifying than death: meaningless. That was why I kept pushing on.
A book had fallen from the desk to the floor. I clung desperately to the image of the chancellor described in that history book written a thousand years ago.
Amid this, a voice reached me from afar. “Professor!!! Dr. Ide, are you here?!”
The voice was calling me “professor.” I remained silent, continuing to envision the chancellor from a thousand years ago. The chancellor who followed that great Sovereign Queen Lorde. There was no sight more magnificent. There had never been a more splendid life. There had never been a more splendid self. Therefore, that foolish child who yearned to be something like a professor no longer existed. I had become the chancellor, not the younger brother. So no longer would I—
“Professor?! Your face is blue! Breathe properly! Breathe!!!”
Breathe...?
The term “professor” was unbearable, but the rest of her words reached my ears. Understanding their meaning, I frantically moved my lungs, sucking in air in a single gasp. Fresh air filled my lungs, slightly easing the abnormal suffocation I’d felt moments before.
Ah, it seems that I somehow stopped breathing. Was I thinking too hard? The duel with Kanami the Founder was approaching, and perhaps I was nervous about it.
I came to this conclusion as I regulated my breathing and looked around. Before I knew it, a Jewelculus girl was standing behind me.
She was a girl with a faint blue pigment in her hair and eyes, clad in Viaysia’s military uniform. I recalled that she was a Jewelculus who had completed her treatment and volunteered to assist the castle clerks. Her name was... I’m sure it was...
It wouldn’t come to me. If I thought hard enough, I might recall it, but I couldn’t bring myself to do so. “Ah, you are... Um... I’m sorry, I’ve forgotten your name...”
“Jewelculus Proto X, Quess. No need to apologize, professor. There are many family members in this castle who look similar, so it’s understandable. More importantly, right now, you should be...”
Quess? Well, whatever. I would probably forget it again anyway, so trying to remember was pointless. Right now, there was something more important.
“Excuse me, please don’t call me ‘professor.’ Call me Chancellor Ide.” I corrected her mistake as I picked up the documents that had fallen onto the floor. Then, I picked up the most important book among them and clenched it tightly. It was my book.
The historical text, The Sovereign Queen Lorde and Chancellor Ide, chronicled the war between the North and South a thousand years ago. This was definitive proof that I had lived. Tucking it into my robe, I faced the Jewelculus, who nodded, her expression tinged with disappointment.
“I’m sorry...Chancellor Ide.”
“Thank you.” I was grateful for the correction. At the same time, I was grateful to the historical records of my past. I’d found this book a year ago, after witnessing the resolution of the long-standing feud between Palinchron Regacy and Aikawa Kanami at the center of the World Restoration Array and after taking charge of Hitaki, the Thief of Water’s Essence, who could replace the Sovereign Queen Lorde.
Since being summoned as a Guardian to this world a thousand years later, I had nearly forgotten that I was a chancellor. Yet this book contained everything I had failed to remember about my past. Though the memory loss from my summoning delayed my memories, I would not stray from my path anymore. I was the chancellor of Viaysia.
“I am sorry. Being called Chancellor Ide just makes me feel more comfortable,” I explained to the bewildered blue Jewelculus as I stowed the book deep within my body. The clearest proof was this: The instant I’d proudly declared myself chancellor and was addressed as such by my subordinates, power had surged through my body. So it was true. This was the nature I had been born with.
My element was Wood. My magic power specialized in nurturing others. My personality, too, often elevated others; I never fought alone. Yes, the sorcerer named Ide could survive on his own. But only when there was a Sovereign Queen Lorde and I could prove myself as chancellor would I finally be able to breathe.
It was becoming clear again. That’s right. I remembered now. I had become the Thief of Wood’s Essence within this very castle to become chancellor, and I continued to aim for that pure-white place—
“That pure-white place?” A voice of doubt rose from my own lips at the words I had conceived. As my thoughts circled around the Thief of Wood’s Essence, I caught a fleeting glimpse of the scene. It was not the throne room of Viaysia Castle, but some other, vaster place.
What was that place? That whiteness was from a Pieris Aicia tree. It felt so familiar and yet somehow made my chest ache. No matter how deeply I searched my memories, I couldn’t recall it. This was likely due to the memory loss caused by becoming an Essence Thief a thousand years ago and being summoned a millenium into the future. Unlike the others, I had received a detailed explanation from Apostle Regacy just before becoming the Thief of Wood’s Essence, which was why I could somewhat grasp the meaning of this current scene. To understand its significance, even if it took everything in me...
“Prof—Chancellor Ide? Is something wrong?” The blue Jewelculus girl was beside me before I realized it, and she peered up into my face as she interrupted my thoughts.
“No, nothing is wrong. I am fine.” Perhaps because she’d called me “chancellor,” I managed to force a smile. I couldn’t recall the scene from earlier anymore, but it wasn’t worth making a fuss over. It would be strange to remember everything as if it were yesterday.
Though my body remained youthful, I had already entered old age. Memories from childhood? Impossible. Memories of life in the orphanage? Hardly any remained. If I could remember anything, it was likely only memories from when I was already chancellor. For instance, a voice I’d heard a thousand years ago while walking the corridors of Viaysia Castle.
“Tch, that man is to serve as chancellor? That pathetic fool?”
It had been deliberately loud enough for me, walking by, to hear.
“Many must find it hard to accept why he was chosen.”
“The Sovereign Queen Lorde’s lackey? He’s nothing but a heavy shackle.”
I had heard countless voices refusing to acknowledge my position. Everyone in the castle had whispered that I was unfit for the role.
Even if I could not recall my childhood memories, I could still remember those bitter days. For some reason, they were as clear as if they had happened yesterday.