“Sharle Cornelia.”“Yes, that is my name.”
“Have you ever heard of Killian Eurasia?”
“Since you keep repeating the same question, my answer will be repeated as well. I have never heard such a name.”
“...”
“To add to that, as far as I know, Eurasia has three direct descendants, not four.”
“We have a problem.”
Killian shook his head and asked several more questions.
The conclusion he reached was this.
‘Sharle has forgotten me completely.’
That did not mean her memories remained in the past, either.
It was only him whom she could not remember, as if the existence called Killian Eurasia alone had been cut out.
“Amnesia... This is troublesome.”
Even if both parties worked together, leaving the Mind Image World was not easy.
‘No. I may not be the only one marked by the Curse of Oblivion.’
He did not know whether it had been inscribed because he entered the Mind Image World, or whether there was another reason.
‘If there is a silver lining, it is that the Curse is incomplete.’
If the Curse had worked properly, not only Sharle, but he himself would have lost his memories of her merely by entering this place.
‘Either I developed immunity to the Curse upon reaching 8-Star.’
Or.
‘It is because the God Roto is hostile toward fragments of Grotesqueries.’
The Transcendent Grotesqueries that came from beyond the Boundary, and the Transcendent Gods who had ruled over the existing world. It was certain that they did not get along.
And Killian happened to have a God he could ask about such things.
The one who had erected the ‘Barrier’ that guarded the ‘Boundary.’
‘Murus.’
[Are you asking for my thoughts?]
The one who answered his call was Depressed Murus.
Merely hearing his voice gave one the illusion that their mood was sinking.
‘Just tell me whether my assumption is right.’
[I cannot answer anything. How depressing.]
The expected response left him deflated.
[What I can tell you is that the God I sense from your betrothed is not the whole of Roto.]
He considered correcting the word betrothed, but decided to let it pass since that was not what mattered.
‘If he is not whole... does that mean he is corrupted?’
He had seen how Silvana was consumed by the Curse of Exploration.
‘It is not something a person below 7-Star can endure.’
If it were true, then Sharle’s mind should not have been whole, either.
But Murus gave an unrelated answer to his question.
[Roto has long walked the path of decline. He has been out of contact with us for a long time as well.]
‘How long ago is a long time?’
[In Human time, about fifty years.]
Roto, the God of Keys.
‘He is a Transcendent who can open every lock.’
Locks were no more than a metaphor; he was a God skilled at unlocking what others kept hidden.
Since he had been able to pass through the ‘Gate’ Killian had used as Adamas in the past, there was no need to speak of his ability.
‘The combination of a creation mage and the God of Keys is not bad.’
Sharle was one of the world’s foremost users of creation magic.
If she understood the operating principles of Authorities well enough, she would have obtained decent results.
‘She may have greatly shortened the time it would take to reach Arch Mage.’
Unlike a knight, for whom physical training was essential, a mage could sometimes cross the wall through mental enlightenment alone.
In that regard, Sharle possessed every condition.
‘Is there a way to search this place for where Roto’s presence can be felt?’
[I cannot answer.]
It was a guarded answer, but it was enough of an answer by itself.
In this state, neither the God nor the Grotesquery could properly exercise their strength.
It was, in a sense, a standoff.
He had to regard himself as the one chosen to resolve that state.
‘Sharle, just what kind of experiment were you conducting?’
He would learn that as well once she recovered her memories.
“What are you thinking so deeply about?”
“...”
Sharle asked.
With an innocent smile, as though she knew nothing.
“I was thinking about Gods and Grotesqueries.”
“Gods and Grotesqueries... The Transcendents. Are you pursuing them?”
“Does anything come to mind?”
“Unfortunately, no.”
“I see.”
“Is there something I need to remember?”
“It is nothing like that.”
“The sun will be setting soon.”
“...”
“Have you decided where to stay?”
“If there is a spare room, I would like to borrow it.”
“I merely reside in the Magic Tower myself, but...”
Tap.
She closed her book and rose from her seat.
“I have a space prepared with an Expansion Formula for situations like this.”
After simply gathering her things, she began to walk.
Stepping on the squelching sand, the two climbed onto a Warp Stone erected on the shore.
Whoosh.
In the blink of an eye, they had been transported inside a building.
When he looked around, he saw doors arranged in a circle.
It seemed to have at least dozens of floors, and the number of doors on each floor also appeared to exceed one hundred.
“This way.”
She spoke while climbing the stairs ahead of him.
“I have not yet inscribed a Formula for moving between floors into the Warp Stone. I never felt the need.”
She turned back with a gentle smile.
“Since you are a knight, going up and down three floors will not be difficult for you, right?”
He nodded at that concern, so characteristic of a mage.
Before long, she stopped in front of a door painted blue.
“You may stay here.”
“How many rooms like this are there?”
“I do not know. I have not counted them.”
“But you said you expanded them yourself?”
“Even if you inscribe a Formula, it rarely turns out as perfectly as planned.”
She said he should understand, as her abilities had not yet perfectly crossed the wall.
“Apart from the bedroom I use, I operate thirty laboratories classified by subject.”
“...”
“You may or may not know this, but for a mage, research is the very vitality of life.”
Her face overlapped with the expression she had worn when she hatched Hazard.
When he grasped and turned the doorknob, it opened smoothly, as if it had been oiled.
The room was neat.
A bed, and a small table and chairs suitable for receiving a guest.
It was so neat that it felt empty.
‘She must have realized her own image of a room.’
This place was like the unconscious of the woman called Sharle Cornelia.
“Then, please rest well.”
About five minutes after Sharle left and closed the door.
Creak.
Killian opened his door and tried opening the door of the room next to it.
“...”
There was nothing in the room, which had been painted pure white.
“An empty room.”
Click.
The next room was the same.
Even after opening every door on the third floor like that, every room except the one he had been shown was empty.
There were two possibilities.
Either they were spaces that acquired meaning according to her purpose.
‘Or I have yet to find the proper room.’
He needed to find clues about the God and the Grotesquery.
‘For now, I should start by searching the rooms.’
It seemed he would need to remain in Sharle’s Mind Image a little longer.
***
Creak. Creak.
Click. Click.
He did not know how many doors he opened and closed that night.
He counted to roughly two hundred, then gave up counting and opened and shut doors throughout the night.
He thought that somewhere in there would be a fragment of a Grotesquery and the remnant of a God.
‘No, searching by opening doors may be too ordinary a method.’
Entering and leaving another person’s Mind Image World was not an ordinary occurrence. It would not have hidden a space central to the conquest so easily.
After resting briefly, he left the room and stepped onto the Warp Stone, returning to the shore.
Sharle was already there, reading a book.
“You are up early.”
“I did not sleep.”
“Why not?”
“Because I need to leave.”
“That is strange. Sir Killian... entered this place without any interference, yet now you say you are looking for a way to leave.”
“Knowing how to enter does not mean one knows how to leave. Do you know how to get out of here?”
“Well. I have never thought about leaving this place.”
She continued, with an expression of genuine incomprehension.
“You said you did not sleep last night.”
“...”
“Yes, actually, neither did I. I spent last night conducting five experiments. And right now, I am reading an introductory book about the essence of Mana and Divine Power.”
She continued as she showed him the cover of the thick book.
“Living here causes no inconvenience even if one does not eat or sleep. Because I am synchronized with the Magic Tower, I do not feel fatigue or hunger.”
“...”
Sharle smiled brightly with her eyes.
“To me, this place is like heaven. Of course I would have no thought of leaving. But it seems that is not true for you, Sir Killian.”
“I came here to take you away.”
“That is strange. I do not want that.”
“Sir Hegel asked me to.”
“...?”
He explained that she had fallen unconscious while researching a portion of the Transcendents, and that at this very moment, Hegel and Celot were preventing her rampage.
“He must have sent me because the connection through your pendant allowed me to synchronize with the Magic Tower.”
In fact, they had failed, and Killian had succeeded.
“I think Uncle Kiel would have said something similar if he were here.”
“Uncle Kiel...”
“He is dead.”
“...!!”
For the first time, an emotional ripple crossed her face, which had remained unchanged all along.
“Sir Kiel died at the hands of a Black Dragon while helping Eurasia in the war.”
“That makes no sense... How could that...?”
Sharle’s eyes widened as though she had heard words she could not accept.
“You, I, and Hazard hunted that Black Dragon.”
“How could Humans hunt a dragon...? More importantly, who is Hazard?”
“Hazard is a dragon. You are the one who hatched him.”
“...”
She shook her head.
Her eyes trembled, and her lips quivered.
Then.
Ding.
[The Violet Magic Tower assists Sharle Cornelia’s domain.]
“...?”
The message that appeared gave him a sense that something was strange.
[The Violet Magic Tower permits the existence of Killian Eurasia.]
“Uncle Kiel... died, and I hatched a dragon...?”
Sharle asked again in a shaking voice.
“Yes. I heard that you were tormented by guilt over his death and conducted excessive research. As for Hazard, you acted almost like his mother.”
“...”
As though a headache had struck, Sharle held her head in her hands.
[Sharle Cornelia’s domain is wavering.]
[The Violet Magic Tower assists Sharle Cornelia’s domain.]
Violet Mana filled the rippling space.
“Was the Magic Tower not binding you, but protecting you?”
He thought he understood.
What the way out of this place was.
Killian met the eyes of the wavering Sharle.
“Do not run from reality.”
“Stop...”
“Kiel Cornelia is dead.”
“No more...”
“You inherited his will.”
“Me...”
“Let us leave this place together.”
“I...”
“I am Killian Eurasia.”
Killian’s hand grasped her shoulder.
“I am the man who became engaged to you.”
“...!!”
Her mouth fell open, and she was shaken even more greatly than when he told her of Kiel Cornelia’s death.
And then.
Rumble, rumble, rumble.
The surrounding domain began to shake.
Roooar.
Violet waves rushed in as though to engulf the shore.
The violet Mana Killian had kindled spread onto Sharle’s body.
Ding.
[Verification of direct-blood descendant Sharle Cornelia.]
[Marriage relationship between Sharle Cornelia and Killian Eurasia confirmed.]
[Bloodline verification complete. Synchronizing with the Magic Tower’s Mana.]
[The Violet Magic Tower opens a hidden space.]
Chapter 234: Chapter 234
9 min read