Chapter 28
“I’m just checking if you’re okay.”
“Why are you checking like this?”
“Because this is how it’s supposed to be done?”
“No need to check. I’m fine.”
Then Irix got up and, as expected, collapsed back onto the ground.
Thud—
That must hurt even more.
“Just stay still. If you keep moving, you might really get a concussion.”
Irix tried to get up again, but I pressed down firmly on his forehead. Resigned, Irix relaxed his body.
“…I guess I’ll just lie down.”
“You should have been lying down from the start.”
Irix tilted his head back as he lay down.
“The monsters… they’re all gone.”
“That’s right.”
Only the sound of the wind could be heard.
The horrifying clanging that had filled the air moments ago was gone. The train that had been falling was now back on the railway bridge.
“What happened?”
Irix looked at me, and I looked at Maimon. Maimon bowed his head, flustered.
“I didn’t get a good look either.”
“Just tell us what you know, Maimon.”
“Yes, sir.”
Maimon explained, and in the end, it was true that he hadn’t seen much. Honestly, I didn’t really understand what he was saying.
But summarizing it, Maimon said that when the train started to fall, he ran toward us and threw a chain. And fortunately, he caught us in one go.
I rested my chin on my knees and looked at Maimon, while Irix lay down with his arms crossed, also watching him.
“That’s all?” Irix asked.
“Yes. That’s all.”
“I feel like there’s more to explain.”
“Please tell me what it is. I don’t know.”
“Well, the train didn’t fall off the tracks, right? I saw up to that point…”
“You fainted.” I said.
“Quiet. I just lost focus for a moment. I didn’t faint.”
Irix continued:
“But so many things happened during that time. Like the contaminated monsters evaporating all at once, or the train that was falling somehow being back on the bridge.”
Maimon spoke apologetically.
“I’m sorry. I was focused on saving you two and didn’t see anything else.”
Even if he was focused on saving us, there’s no way he wouldn’t notice such major events.
“When I pulled you two up, the train was already back on the bridge. I don’t know how it got there. Anything else you’re curious about?”
There were many things I was curious about, but I didn’t think Maimon could answer them.
“What about the monsters?”
“They suddenly disappeared. When I looked back, the sound was gone, and they were already gone.”
“And still, you don’t know how they disappeared?”
“No.”
I knew that. Peregion eliminated part of them, and the rest were taken care of by the train guy.
But he didn’t see any of that?
“Don’t you remember anything?”
“Maybe it happened naturally.”
Irix scoffed.
“Oh, right. Nature just happened to help us at the perfect moment. We must have been really lucky, huh?”
Maimon nodded.
“Yes, that’s right. And contaminated monsters appear quickly and disappear quickly.”
“I see…” Irix asked Maimon with exhausted eyes, as if giving up.
“But did nature also help the falling train rise back up?”
“It was not magic.”
Maimon said this with certainty. Irix and I looked at him expectantly.
“I didn’t feel any magical energy. Nor any knight’s fighting spirit. No supernatural power either.”
“How do you know that?” I asked.
I had decided not to show my otherworldly nature, but I couldn’t help asking. I was really curious.
“It’s my innate ability.”
I glanced at Irix. No change in expression. A reasonable answer.
Let’s accept it. If a local says it, it must be true.
Act naturally, as if knowing he has such an ability is normal.
“In the end, only one possibility remains.”
“What is it?” Irix asked in a voice devoid of hope or expectation.
“Is there a natural law that could lift the train?”
“No.” Irix said.
“In this world, there’s gravity. To resist it, a magician must use magic, a knight must use fighting spirit to lift with full strength, a blessed priest can use their power, or an Aether owner can draw on a god’s power. Which of these is it?”
My ears perked up at the last one.
An Aether owner who can draw on a god’s power.
Maimon shook his head.
“None of the first three. I’ve never felt Aether, so I can’t be sure.”
That’s strange. Something incredible happened, yet he saw nothing.
Even if Irix fainted, Maimon was fine. It’s almost like he had his eyes closed the whole time.
“But…” Maimon thought for a moment, then said,
“The wind… was very strong.”
“…”
“I think the strong wind caused it.”
“Think?”
“Yes. There was a tremendous wind the whole time. It was so strong that I closed my eyes for a moment, and when I opened them again, the train was back. You two were also next to me.”
“…”
“So it might have been the wind.”
“…”
“…”
No matter how strong the wind, it can’t lift a train. Even if such wind existed in this otherworld, we would have been blown far away.
But Maimon’s dark eyes looked at us innocently, as if that explanation made perfect sense.
Maybe gaining supernatural powers lowers intelligence? Or he only trained his powers and neglected his intellect? But would such basic common sense require training?
“If I need to find out more, I will.”
“How?”
“I’ll try.”
“…”
I began to wonder if we hadn’t just found the wrong person, but the wrong timeline entirely.
How did this kid find Irix, who was alone in the secret monastery of the cult? Impossible. Irix shouldn’t have even been left alone.
Then—
“Hey.”
Only then did I realize there was someone else here.
Turning around, the damn Telecus was there.
The three of us stared, and Telecus breathed a sigh of relief.
“Ah, it’s quiet now. Thank goodness. All thanks to Lord Peregion…”
But both his hands were ordinary. Peregion’s blessing was gone. He had taken it back.
“So, uh…” Telecus said in a trembling voice,
“Let’s go with me now! Just go! Lo, Lord Peregion will return…”
I looked at Irix. He was still lying down.
“No.”
“Huh?”
“I’m not going. I’m tired… and have work to do.”
“What work?” I asked. Irix pointed at me.
“I can’t leave you behind. That’s my work first.”
He has a conscience?
Something is really wrong. I must have entered the manuscript discarded by room 301.
A mastermind who uses conscience as a guide for action and judgment.
Telecus trembled and glared at me.
“So, it’s this girl after all!”
“Don’t be rude to senpai,” Irix said as he got up.
“Peregion’s curse and wrath will strike this girl!”
Telecus raised his hand, but nothing happened.
He stared at his now-normal hands, then suddenly clenched a fist and reached to his waist. A dagger appeared in his hand, its blade covered in inscriptions. A dagger with blue energy flowing from it.
This is dangerous.
A chill ran through me along with tension and anger. I felt cold energy pouring out from my body. Shadows around me deepened with the tension and anger.
Then Irix placed a hand on my shoulder, and the pressure vanished.
“Senpai, your Aether is leaking. Calm down unless you want to attract every nearby lesser god.”
“Can it just calm down on command?”
“Make it calm down.”
…
Irix turned to Telecus. Then—
Click.
A familiar sound.
Telecus raised his dagger hand.
A snake clamped tightly onto it, dangling.
“Ah…”
That’s Irix.
“Ahh!”
That’s me.
“?”
Maimon.
Telecus looked at the snake biting the back of his hand.
“What the hell is this worm…”
Moments later, the sound everyone expected came:
Thud—
His name was Telecus Ivan.
A trainee of the cult, he trained diligently and soon became a Guide. Guides are prominent members of the cult hierarchy. Telecus naturally expected this—he was destined for it.
Then, one day, fate found him.
The Book of Soleil appeared before him.
