Chapter 116 – Gratitude

000

“Good work… What is it, what’s wrong with your expression?”

Finally, seeing the subtle expressions of Cleon and Sasha, who returned to the mansion with the object they were aiming for in the first place, Layla spoke as if in doubt.

She had set up all the magic tools that could extract the video from the workshop in advance, intending to analyze the Memoria Cube as soon as Cleon brought the stone gun.

From the side of her, Beatrix could be seen making final adjustments with a spanner in her hand.

The two of them talked as if it was nothing when they left the warehouse in Vytos, but as they returned home, they gradually became less talkative and flashbacks of what they had experienced in the mirror world continued, creating an awkward atmosphere.

“Ay Layla. You know it took a long time for the two of you to go out and come back, right?”

Looking at the two, Bea talks to Lila, who has her doubts her, sticking out her face her from behind the machine.

The dark oil smeared on his cheeks and his was a bit different from usual, and it was fresh.

“Ah~. Well, no matter where the two of you go and what you do, I don’t have any intention of pointing it out. It’s not a virgin or a bachelor, so what’s wrong?”

“No… I just realized that there are many strange artifacts in Vitos’ warehouse…”

Hearing Cleon’s answer to her, Sasha also smiled and scratched her cheek.

“It’s good anyway. Show me the stone gun you brought.”

When Leyla said so, Cleon took out her ancient artifact of her, the stone towel of Trismegistos, which she had borrowed from Vytos’ warehouse, and handed it to her as she wished.

An old stone key with no outward features.

However, even the rope tied to the hole at the head of the key is a magic tool, and it is said that no matter what kind of cutting power is used, it will never be cut.

Although it is impossible to reuse the rope thanks to this.

And, no matter what anyone says, the real value of this tool is the key itself.

A concept that can open any ‘locked things’, a magic tool that generates ideological openings.

This object, which is expected to have been made in the age of the ancients, literally in the age of myth, will decrease in size as it is used, and will disappear within a set amount of use.

Therefore, it was necessary to be careful in using it, and since it was impossible to reproduce, it was a matter with the permission of the 12 members of the Council of Elders or the consent of more than 5 heads of departments for the academy to use this object.

As a result of resolving this and that incident, I was able to obtain the consent of the five chiefs as a token of gratitude, and the conditions were met to achieve the biggest goal that came to the academy after a long journey.

“The record that can be seen by opening the memory cube is moved through this magic tool. If you want to see the details, you should use this magic tool for projection.”

“Is it impossible to see directly from the Memoria Cube?”

“It’s possible, but you have to use the stone gun again every time you open it… Since the Memoria Cube itself doesn’t have functions such as rewind or fast forward. To find the part you want, it’s also correct to use a magic tool for recording, right?”

While answering Cleon’s questions in a cool way, Layla also checked the magic tools Beatrix had prepared for projection and recording.

“Is that the magic tool? It looks pretty old…”

Sasha’s pure sentiment her without malice caused Layla to whimper… Let’s let out a salivation, Beatrix haha… And she answers with a wry smile.

“Consular magic tools are more expensive than I thought… So I hurriedly brought the items from Layla’s home.”

“Lyla’s birthplace her. Looking back at her memories her, it’s clear-“

At Bea’s words, Cleon recalls the time when he glimpsed Lyla’s memories of her during the incident with Alvein a while ago.

In those memories, there were also her memories of the place where Layla’s home was her was, that is, her hometown her where she was born.

“West side of the royal capital. Completely rural. A village where medicinal herbs and hot springs are specialties. ‘Helis’.”

Before Cleon could say anything of her, Layla muttered in response.

“Right. That’s what it was. It had little to do with magic for Layla’s hometown her.”

And Cleon also nodded her head at Layla’s words to her, but Layla gave her slightly disgusted expression.

“Yeah, that’s why my grandfather chose that place on purpose. In his later years, he preferred gardening for herbs and digging in hot springs with a pickaxe and shovel with the villagers rather than magic.”

The image of her grandfather in her memory is reconstructed in Cleon’s head of her.

It was the appearance of a benevolent yet solemn veteran.

Originally, a wizard would be a bit reluctant to do manual labor due to lack of stamina, but for that person, a staff would of course suit him, but carrying a shovel and pickaxe would suit him as well.

Hot springs and herbal gardens. There are many adventurers who lose their lives on the journey, but most of them dream of retiring as adventurers after a big hit.

Cleon also had a longing for ‘ordinary life’, and after retiring as an adventurer, he thought it would be wonderful to go down to the countryside and spend time slowly doing his own chores.

“…Not bad. An old man like that.”

As she muttered those words, Lyla and Beatrix, who were next to her, reacted.

“”To?””

It was as if such an old age did not suit Cleon.

“…What is that reaction?”

“It’s nice~! I’m also from the countryside, but the place I live in is a bit unique. I want to live in a town where I can spend the rest of my life at ease like that.”

Whether or not Cleon speaks displeased with the two of them, Sasha’s eyes twinkle as she empathizes with Cleon’s words her.

“… After all, Sasha is innocent. Okay. Then, let’s find a place where she can save money and settle down…”

As Cleon looked a little farther away and patted Sasha’s head while talking, Layla and Beatrix, embarrassed, clung to Cleon as if clinging to him.

“Wait wait! It’s difficult to think about retiring already!”

“M-That’s right, senpai! You haven’t even started your adventure with me yet!”

“An adventurer’s retirement always comes suddenly…”

“Cleon~!”

“Senior~!”

Hearing Layla and Beatrix’s voices, Cleon simply said, “Heh heh…” I just laughed.

“Ah, but… It’s rare that Mr. Layla is in trouble with money…?”

And when Sasha said it as if she had just remembered, Layla flinched and shrugged her shoulders.

“Ah. That’s right, Sasha-san.”

As Beatrix tries to answer that question, Layla hurriedly reaches out and covers her mouth.

“…What, did you gamble?”

“Ha, ha!? Gambling!? It can’t be! It’s just… A little, unexpected expense. This is an amount that can be recovered immediately by doing a little research and publishing a thesis.”

To Cleon’s question, Layla blushes in response. Well, as she said, Lila would be the most profitable person at this party right now.

By handing over some of the magic tool ideas in your head to the magic tools department, you can get royalties, and if you research and produce results, you will receive a scholarship from the academy.

That’s why it’s a bit strange that she brings up her money problems her, but she can’t help it if she does n’t want to talk about the reason.

“…Uh, anyway. I’ll keep Bear and this magic tool in order until evening. The two of you go up and wait.”

Lyla says she doesn’t want to delay her work any longer, and she kicks Cleon and Sasha out of the basement workshop.

Cleon and Sasha looked at each other for a moment and shrugged as they went up to the lobby of the mansion.

001

“I ate well! Mr. Cuon, this stew was really good! Can you tell me the recipe…?”

“Ahaha… Of course. There’s no such thing as a recipe, but… I’ll write it down in a notebook and show it to you later.”

Dinner that night was also a satisfying meal.

On well-baked bread, Cuon’s special stew. And the meat dish that Iona learned for Talcheck. She said that Talchek always tried to eat raw meat, so serving her food her was to the point where she was drunk and had to say no to her, so she said that it was a shame that she was not judged on the taste.

Even though her cooking was simply seasoned and grilled, it tasted different from what Cleon or Sasha cooked at camp.

“Lyla. There’s still broccoli and green peppers.”

“Ugh. That’s fine…”

And when Cleon points to Lyla’s plate, Lyla responds with a slight frown on her face.

This lady… Is so picky about her child’s taste that if you compare her clean food to the emptied Sasha, you’ll wonder if she’s really older.

“If things go on like this, Sasha will outsmart you and she will grow taller and more mature…”

Cleon murmurs as he unknowingly recalls the image of Sasha he saw in her mirror world her.

“Oh, Mr. Cleon…”

And Sasha, too, blushed as if she had realized that Cleon had remembered that figure.

“It’s okay, it’s okay. Even if you don’t eat vegetables, your body can grow. If you have to, you can make a magic potion for growth and take it. If you make it bigger, will it grow as big as Kuon?”

When Lila answers by raising the corners of her mouth and waving her hand her, Sasha raises her voice as if shocked to see Lila like that.

“Is that possible!? It’s despicable!”

“Because the troubles of people with slow development have been around since the old days~ A lot of research has already been done on that side.”

“However, they say that potions have different effects depending on the person. In particular, I heard that growth-type magic is like a curse, so it doesn’t work on people with a lot of magical power.”

When Iona listened to Laila’s story and pointed it out next to her, Laila’s body her stiffened.

“Ah, that’s right…”

And when Sasha happily raised her voice, Layla barked and screamed.

“Hey, wait! What are you doing sweeping her chest like you’re lucky! I’ll never lose to Sasha!”

“I’m sorry~!”

A messy, raucous dinner.

Just having Ioni and Beatrix together made it such a lively place.

Cleon sighs as if he is relieved as he quietly drinks his after-dinner tea.

“Whoa… It was delicious… It’s been a while since I’ve had such a warm home-cooked meal.”

She would have been better if she had n’t had only this woman by her side of her.

“Didn’t you go back?”

Cleon talks to Sofia without turning her head.

In the Q&A at that time, after hearing Cleon’s answer to her, he said something like ‘I’ll wait in the future…’And even directed it to disappear.

The shamelessness of her reappearing in front of him and eating until dinner was something Cleon could hardly imitate.

“Ahaha~ I was going to do that, but it’s been a while since I wanted to eat food cooked by Cleon. Well, in the end, I ate someone else’s food, but this isn’t bad either. No, it was rather good.”

“I’m sorry. I rarely cook anymore…”

When Cleon says that, Sophia replies as if making fun of Cleon.

“What is it, Cleon. Since when did you become such a patriarchal man?”

“It’s not like that. …With her gone and you guys leaving the city one by one, I didn’t have to make it for someone, so I just naturally stopped doing it. It makes everyone happy.”

In response to Cleon’s answer her, Sophia puts her chin on her chin and looks at Cleon with her side of the eye. What he said – everyone left the city one by one.

However, as if she would not directly reveal such a thing, Sophia tells Cleon.

“Hmm. But I’m sure you’re helping me sometimes, right?”

“That’s it… The level of trimming the ingredients…”

“It’s great. What, even in empty words? Cleon’s cooking is not as delicious as this lady named Quon’s cooking? Is it more reasonable than Cleon’s cooking?”

Cleon barely looked at Sophia who was saying that. Sophia smirked, the corners of her mouth raised.

“Did you come back to make fun of me?”

“No, to apologize.”

When Cleon asked that question, Sophia answered without changing her expression her. However, there was sincerity in his voice of hers.

It’s been like that since childhood. For Cleon, reading Sofia’s emotions was harder than predicting the opponent’s actions her during battle.

The great sage of the idiot.

Sophia is usually called by that nickname.

Idiot is the exact opposite of the name sage, or ‘wise man’, and was a word for someone with low intelligence or feeble-mindedness.

However, there is no other word that describes Sophia better than this one.

As the word suggests, Sophia’s head is in trouble.

It is because the most precious thing she dedicated to awakening as her great sage was a part of her brain her.

In her youth, she was told by Talchek that when Lesia was dying from contact with her enemy’s poison, she must have had her High Sage knowledge and abilities her to create the antidote.

At the time, Sophia, who was still a candidate for the great sage, that is, the sage of her apprenticeship her, needed to sacrifice her most precious thing to the fountain of the sage in order to save her friend her.

Her brilliant brain, which contained her vast amount of knowledge, was the most valuable thing she had.

As a result, she was able to gain her powers her as a great sage, but her damaged brain her remained disabled.

She made up for what she lacked through her magic to maintain her vitality in her, but it was a lack of expression of some emotions except for the intellectual part, and periodic loss of memory.

As she becomes a great sage, her personality her seems to have become quite pleasant, but thanks to her her emotions, her emotions her have become difficult to read and she cannot remember the human face she met three days ago.

However, every time she passed it down her throat, she periodically took her poisonous medicine to the extent that she vomited everything inside her.

As far as her work her in relation to her own colleagues her she never forgets, completing her journey her.

The fact that she still has n’t forgotten about Lesia, their trip to her, and Cleon must be proof that she’s still taking the drug.

“…”

“Cleon. We… Failed. Talcheck is dead. I can’t walk through the rift of another dimension anymore. Esca… Seems to be working hard in her own way, but the protagonist and the guest have been overturned. In the end, she All three of us who were colleagues in , all failed to get her back.”

“… Sophia.”

Cleon speaks quietly as if to call her back her, but Sofia is not concerned about it and continues her words her.

“Yeah. So. Cleon, if she wants to quit, she can quit. … She already knows how she ended up, right?”

“…”

“… No one else, I’m sorry for saying this.”

Her words carried a different weight than those of her others.

Previously, she had told Cleon that the time for her choice her would come. Now that the preparations for the three guns had been completed, that time was right in front of her nose. That she would tell Cleon about this once again.

Obviously, if Cleon chose to pursue Lesia, what would happen would lead to harsh things for Cleon.

Maybe, she will fall apart from all of her colleagues in front of her right now.

The view surrounding this peaceful and enjoyable dining table.

The daily life of waking up early in the morning and running lightly on the road together.

Drinking tea with refreshments, and also the peacefulness of chatting.

Also, the night to confirm each other’s existence.

Would it really be the right thing for Cleon to throw away everything of value now and go in search of Lesia, who he might not be able to find?

The image of Quon from the parallel world still flickered in Cleon’s mind.

You may not be able to see the grown-up Sasha you see in the mirror world in real life.

A similar experience might be made for Layla, who thought she had lost her friend her, Beatrix.

Luti and Perdia are waiting for the day they will return from Ellesia. Iona shares memories with Talcheck. One of the few remaining relatives, Lubera.

Aruru finds similarities with each other, overcomes the conflicting positions of a hero and a magician, and becomes a friend and lover.

The longer they spent together, the more her own obsession with Lesia felt like a betrayal of them all.

Nevertheless, even so, Cleon had a reason to not give up on Lesia.

There was only one simple, uncomplicated reason.

“When I was looking for salvation. Lesia saved me.”

Okay.

A boy who was destined to die in the stargazing tower was saved by a golden warrior who fell like a comet.

Her life her, her teachings, her hopes and her love were all from her her.

That day.

The day she was banished to the rift of her dimension.

Talchek had told him not to follow him, but he couldn’t stay still.

That’s why I secretly followed and followed him to that place.

With everything already over, Talcheck is frozen as if time has stopped.

There was a figure of Lesia, half of her body swallowed by the dimensional rift.

When Cleon, who had been looking at the scene with wide-open eyes in her alleyway, she couldn’t take one step forward due to her fear of her.

The moment Lesia and her eyes her met.

Lesia reached out her hand towards Cleon.

She’s like, she’s trying to catch Cleon.

It may have been a gesture to mean not to come this way.

However, Cleon had said that she ‘wanted’ her help her.

That’s why she ran out of the alley, and when she came to her senses her, only Tal Check and Cleon were left there.

She didn’t know what had happened, but there were no wounds on her body.

“…If Lesia needs any help, I will respond.”

“…Yes. I thought so.”

Sophia stood up from her seat.

This time she moves slowly on foot without using magic.

The sad face she had seen in her previous partings her was no longer visible. No, Cleon knew very well that her facial expression was meaningless to her.

It was her voice that I had to feel.

Somewhere, a voice that seemed relieved yet relieved.

The words of a great sage always contain only the truth.

“I’ll go, Cleon. May Lesia’s protection be with you on your journey.”

She, who does not believe in her god her, blesses her Cleon in the name of the one she trusts most.

Like a quiet wind, like when she came, Sophia opened the door of her mansion and stepped out.

Cleon looked behind her for a while before returning to the table where everyone was waiting.

He could see why Sophia had asked Cleon the same question over and over again.

Yes, Sophia was also of the same mind as Cleon.

Really, will she be able to save her on behalf of herself?

To Cleon, whom they consider to be their only hope of her.

With his mouth her, she wanted to confirm the possibility of saving Lecia. She wanted to be reassured. And, she wanted to apologize for the guilt of leaving those hopes behind.

However, Cleon knew.

Talcheck, Sofia, and Escado.

I wouldn’t have stopped if there were no obstacles to stop them.

Even if finding Lesia would turn everything in the world into an enemy.

As a result, even if she herself is banished from the world.

It was to regain Lesia’s golden hope for her.