Chapter 309 : Raksas (5)

“What do you mean by that?”

Alon frowned, clearly not understanding what he had just heard, and asked again.

The predecessor repeated her words.

[Just as I said. But do you, by any chance, know about the Elves’ curse?]

“I do.”

The curse of the Elves.

A spell cast by the True Mage who stood with the black ones, known as "Closed-Eyed One," reduced the lifespan of the Elves to one quarter of what it used to be.

When Alon spoke about that curse—

[Exactly. Just as the Elves had their lifespans shortened by Closed-Eyed One, the True Mages were cursed as well—no, calling it a 'curse' doesn't quite capture it. What word would be better, I wonder~]

The predecessor pondered for a moment.

[Yes, this would be more accurate. Let’s call it 'erasure.']

She said those words aloud.

“...Erasure?”

[Yes. The black ones, including Closed-Eyed One, erased the True Mages. Not only their existence, but even the very concept they had engraved upon the world—they wiped it all away.]

“...Why?”

[Didn’t you say you knew about the Elves’ curse?]

“What does that have to do with this?”

The predecessor looked puzzled for a moment, then let out a quiet “Ah” and opened her mouth again.

[So you know the Elves were cursed, but not why they were cursed in the first place.]

“Can you tell me the reason?”

[It’s so simple it barely qualifies as a reason. They posed a threat to the Sins. That’s all.]

“A threat...?”

[Yes.]

The Observer nodded a couple of times and continued.

[True Mages posed a threat to the Sins. Though all of them lost their lives, in the end, the Sins still failed to accomplish their goal. That’s why Closed-Eyed One erased the True Mages from this world.]

So that the existence known as a True Mage would no longer be able to stop the Sins.

So that everything would proceed as fate intended.

As the predecessor murmured softly, Alon asked another question.

“Then the Elves too—”

[It’s the same. Their long lifespan meant they could give rise to someone capable of stopping the Sins. That’s why they were cursed. So that nothing could defy absolute inevitability.]

Alon fell silent.

He simply couldn’t understand.

“...Why?”

[Which part are you referring to?]

“Why does Closed-Eyed One want to destroy the world so badly?”

There were many things Alon couldn’t understand.

Why did the being who created the Sins still act favorably toward him? How could the magic said to have been erased by Closed-Eyed One still exist in this world?

But above all, the most confounding question was this—

Why did they create the Sins? And why are they trying to destroy the world?

That’s why he asked, and the predecessor simply stared at him.

Without saying a word, calmly.

"...?"

And in that moment, Alon realized something strange.

‘She’s not looking at me.’

At first, Alon thought the predecessor was looking directly at him.

But she wasn’t.

‘Then where—?’

Alon peered into her eyes. Just as he suspected, her gaze was slightly misaligned.

Then suddenly—

[May I ask you something?]

She threw out a question.

“Speak.”

[How much do you know?]

“...How much?”

[Yes. Literally—how much do you know about this world? It’s fine if it’s long, just tell me everything you know.]

Alon was puzzled by the sudden question but began to explain slowly.

“That’s all I know.”

When he finished, the predecessor wore a calm expression, as if pondering something, and then said—

[I know what you’re curious about. But I can’t tell you.]

“...Why not?”

She came to that conclusion.

[Because your eyes and ears cannot perceive the truth.]

***

Right after Alon and Radan left the place where the Observer had been—

Alon stared blankly at the sun hanging high in the sky.

“Brother?”

“What is it?”

“Well, you’ve been spaced out like that ever since we left the cave.”

“...Have I?”

“Yes.”

At Radan’s words, Alon snapped out of it belatedly, but quickly fell back into thought.

‘What does that mean?’

—Your eyes and ears are veiled from the truth. So no matter who you ask, you’ll never reach it.

Recalling the conversation he’d had with the predecessor Observer, Alon thought—

‘Someone is covering my eyes and ears... huh.’

The predecessor didn’t explain who that ‘someone’ was.

Or more precisely, she couldn’t.

Still, even learning that fact didn’t throw Alon into deep confusion—it only left him curious.

There were two reasons why.

First, even after learning that someone was obscuring his sight and hearing, Alon’s goal remained unchanged.

In the end, his mission was to stop the Sins.

That goal had never wavered.

And second—her final words.

—Gather the items and meet that being. That being will surely be able to remove the hand veiling you.

That’s what she said.

If he gathered the items and met that being, he would be able to remove the hand covering the truth.

In other words, what Alon needed to do hadn’t changed either.

Of course, he was still curious about who and why someone was hiding the truth from him—but he decided to be patient.

‘Once I gather the items, I’ll know everything.’

Having sorted through his thoughts, Alon looked at Radan.

Radan also had a troubled expression on his face.

“Is something bothering you?”

“Oh.”

Radan snapped out of it and let out a small sound of surprise.

“Hmm—not really. It’s nothing too serious.”

He scratched his head with an awkward smile.

Alon nodded as if to say “I see,” and with that—

“Well then, let’s head back.”

They left the eastern coast behind and returned to Radan’s ship, saving the rest for another time.

***

“Is that... really true?”

"Seriously, I’m telling the truth! Why is it so hard for you to believe me?"

Beran, who had been bragged to endlessly by Karam—who had joined the Marquis Palatio's forces—was stunned when he met his friend Cop after spending over a month grinding away in a dungeon.

“Wait, so that rumor was true?”

“Yeah, it’s chaos right now because of it.”

The reason was the rumor that Cop had just relayed.

“You’re telling me Karam wasn’t full of crap?”

“Yup. Apparently, if you carry out justice and bring back proof, you can train within that territory and harness Kalannon’s power.”

Of course, Beran and Cop were the original source of that rumor.

But the story had long since spiraled out of control and been thoroughly distorted.

“Hoooh~”

Beran couldn’t help but smile and suddenly stood up.

“Where are you going?”

“Where do you think? I’ve got to get in on this too.”

“Wait, hang on—”

Before Cop could even finish talking, Beran dashed out the door with a wide grin and ran straight to the Mercenary Guild.

His goal? To take on a bandit extermination request.

‘Honestly, I’d love to just form a party and go crack some bandit skulls on our own...’

Beran knew there were so many bandits these days, you could bump into them practically anywhere, so technically he didn’t need a request to hunt them.

But he was going through official channels because of the pay and the location details.

If he was going to fight anyway, might as well get paid and not have to scour the forest just to find them.

‘I want Kalannon’s power too~!’

So, with hope in his heart, Beran burst into the Mercenary Guild.

“?”

He looked up at the request board and was immediately confused.

It stretched on so long that it could line up ten adult men shoulder to shoulder, and even for the tall Beran, he had to reach up high just to touch the top.

And the most important thing—

‘There’s nothing!?’

Just a month ago, the board had been plastered with bandit extermination requests, but now there wasn’t a single one left. Not a single one.

Beran scanned the board one more time, then turned to ask the receptionist sitting nearby.

“Uh, miss?”

“Oh hey, Beran.”

She greeted him with a slightly tired face.

“Um, why is it so clean? Did you take them down for cleaning or something?”

“What are you talking about, cleaning? Have you ever seen us clean anything around here?”

“Well, yeah, but it’s just so empty…”

“Huh? Wait, you don’t know?”

“Know what?”

“The Marquis Palatio, duh.”

“…No way, you mean people can enter his territory?”

“Exactly. That’s why there’s not a single bandit request left.”

“…Seriously?”

“Yup.”

The receptionist nodded, then suddenly pointed at one side.

“Oh, someone’s bringing over a new request. Looks like a bandit job.”

Beran turned to look and saw another staff member pinning a fresh bandit extermination request on the board.

Grinning with joy, he moved toward it.

But the moment the paper was posted—

BAM!!

“LH! LH JACH!!”

A dwarf came flying out of nowhere and snatched the request.

But only for a moment.

“Gahh~!”

“Mine!”

A human kicked the dwarf in the chin and grabbed the request.

“Outta my way! Move it!”

Then a wolf beastkin lunged for it too, reaching out.

“What the hell!?”

“Is that a request!?”

“Move, damn it!!!”

A stampede of mercenaries rushed into the guild, turning the entire place into chaos.

“Haa…”

“…What the hell is this?”

Beran stood there dumbfounded as the receptionist sighed in exhaustion.

And only then did he begin to notice the scenes he’d missed earlier.

“Please, I’m begging you! Take me with you!”

“Huh? You think a weakling like you has what it takes to take on ‘bandits’??”

A-grade mercenaries bowing their heads for a bandit request that B-rankers could normally finish with ease.

“Hey, I got some amazing info.”

“What? Hidden bandits?”

“Yeah, exactly.”

“Where? Where are they?”

“Near the border zone.”

“No way… that’s only like a month’s trip from here! Let’s go—let’s go right now!”

Parties were cheering like kids, even though they were hyped for a request that’d take over a month just to reach—and might already be completed by the time they got there.

And that’s not all—

“Hey hey, I’ve got some good intel too!”

“What is it?”

“I found some bandits!”

“Really!?”

“Well, technically it’s just a village that looks like it might turn into a bandit camp—”

“You idiot, that’s just a slash-and-burn farming village!! You trying to get zapped by the gods for pretending to uphold justice!?”

It was all so absurd that Beran was utterly stunned.

“Hey hey! Bandits spotted in the northern forest!”

Suddenly, a loud voice rang out from outside.

“Oh crap! Outta the way! I’m going!”

“Me too! Meeee too~!”

“Let me—let me take the request!”

“Get ouuuuuut of my waaaaay!!!”

Even without knowing if the rumor was true or not, the mercenaries dropped their brawls and sprinted out the door.

The guild, bustling moments ago, emptied in an instant.

And in the middle of it all stood Beran, frozen in place.

‘Wh-what the hell is this…’

The atmosphere in Lartania had changed drastically in just a month.

“…This is terrifying.”

He felt a strange and creeping dread.