Chapter 201 – Wolf, Alexander, and Morbius (7)

“Petunia. The sun will rise in the west That’s why you come to see me.”

When Morbius spoke as a joke, Petunia Titi bowed her head with her slightly hardened face. She seemed to be avoiding her gaze, or trying to determine what the hell the car Morbius had brought was. Mobius displayed the positive sensibility unique to an old man and interpreted her gaze according to his taste.

“You mean that car? It was a gift from my student. It is very fragrant and I drink it often. If you drink tea and catch your breath while sitting on the sofa, you can get a really deep sleep.”

“Okay? Great. You said that you always have trouble sleeping when wandering around the Demon World.”

Mobius and Alexander were like water and fire. Mobius hated Alexander’s vulgarity and uncultured behavior, and Alexander really hated Mobius’ nagging and whining. Petunia smiled as she recalled the image of the two people fighting back then.

Morbius nodded and smiled in tandem. I thought he was a really terrible friend when we went on adventures together, but after he strangely distanced himself, Alexander’s strengths came to mind.

“How is Alexander? It’s noisy these days.”

Petunia shook her head. The reception room seemed to be turning the clock in a different direction from the busy atmosphere of the Mage Tower. Even the ticking of the second hand was slower than her footsteps, so Petunia decided to drink her tea slowly.

“I don’t know. Because I spend every day in the elven forest. There is nothing you can know.”

As she spoke, she tried to forget the evil she had seen in her church. But carving her bad memories is like growing mold on fruit, so even if you cut out her rotten parts, you can’t go back. It was because the charred dents and the stench that creeped up from her like an insect ate kept reminding her of unpleasant memories.

So Petunia laughed and twisted her face, then sighed and pretended she was fine.

“I see. You’re here today, so take a good rest. I will give you a room for our researchers to stay.”

“Are you okay. I was just going to talk.”

“Story? What are you going to talk about with the old man? I’m not a fun person to talk to anymore. People get tougher as they get older. It’s just that I become a stone statue who can neither laugh nor cry, and only talk about what has happened.”

Mobius threw a masochistic joke. Petunia laughed off his joke, then she got down to business. Because she wasn’t here to laugh with Mobius today.

“I am…”

“Petunia.”

Mobius cut off Petunia. Petunia looked back at Morbius. It was strange to Petunia that he interrupted her. Morbius looked up at the ceiling and continued his words.

“There are old ruins in front of this magic tower. Have you ever seen a leaning statue among them? The statues that stare at the sky because their bodies are stiff.”

Petunia nodded her head. She was familiar with the statues and pillars lined up in front of the Mobius Mage Tower. Elves also came out of the forest and often rested on the plain where the statue stood.

“Everyone becomes like that when they get old. Like a statue, you can only look at one thing. In the past, the statues could have been able to look in various directions according to the owner’s hand gestures. There must have been servants who wiped the body, and there must have been a pretty flower garden on the floor. However, if time passes and even the one person who takes care of me disappears, then I have no choice but to live by looking at only one.”

Petunia knew what Mobius was talking about. She could understand why she was telling this to herself. Her Morbius is talking back to her.

He himself has no intention of stopping his revenge.

Don’t even think about drying yourself.

“Mobius. You always told Wolf to find another way out of revenge.”

But I couldn’t go back without saying a word. Petunia put forward a vain objection that could be quickly refuted, and Mobius evaded her point by giving an obvious answer.

“I am already old. It’s a body that can’t find a new job. I have no choice but to meditate on the past, bring up only the unpleasant things, and shape my revenge.”

Mobius’ attitude was imposing. Looking at him, Petunia Titi felt frustrated and sad as if she were seeing Alexander.

“Don’t you think that this is too much? There are a lot of bad rumors about the Mage Tower. Is revenge worth it enough to live with all those distorted rumors? It’s revenge already over. The disciples who proposed that theory are no longer wizards. The wizard who insulted you and kicked you out of academia is dead. I heard that their families were also kicked out of the Mage Tower? What the hell are you doing researching for now?”

Morbius stared at Petunia. Her dark skin and glowing blue eyes made Petunia flinch. Mobius said.

“First of all, the rumors you heard are true.”

Petunia shook her head. She said through her tears.

“Don’t say that. You always acted like you were a good person. If we tried to live even a little badly, he would admonish us.”

Mobius was calm even when Petunia argued. He said while stroking his beard with an expressionless face.

“Old people become shameless. Don’t try to tell me anything else. Petunia. Aren’t there many better stories than that? Okay. I’m going to talk about something between you and Wolf. What do you think?”

At Morbius’ words, Petunia flinched for a moment, but she did not back down.

“Don’t talk back. I want you to live a little bit happily. You can’t say that no one thinks of you. I’m here right now, and Alexander is there. Wolf loves you too. Why are you trying to crawl to the bottom by yourself? What do you want to do?”

“Wolf. Alexander. Fabian.”

Morbius listened to Petunia and shook her head as if singing her song. He swayed helplessly over her, as if dozing off while fishing, then opened his eyes and met Petunia’s gaze. He said this.

“They were all good colleagues. When I went on a trip to the Demon Realm, I could have proudly said that I had the most enjoyable life ever since I decided to take revenge. Have you ever talked to Wolff about the first time you met him? When I was confined to the alcove of the Magic Tower and living like a destitute, someone knocked on my door. As soon as the door was opened, Wolf said to me that he was talking to me. He said, ‘Let’s get revenge.’”

Petunia had never heard those heavy words from Wolf’s mouth. She couldn’t even feel the weight of their revenge. Mobius said.

“They are good colleagues, but there is no substitute for family. These are the people who will have to go their own way someday. How could I pass on my loneliness to the good friends I see from time to time? How could you try to remove my misfortune? Petunia. Don’t try to convince me. After all, everything is over now.”

Saying that, Morbius leaned back on the back of his chair and closed his eyes. When Morbius was stubborn, he always closed his eyes and shut his mouth. Like a person who believes that if he does that, everything in the world will bypass him, he just stayed still like a stone statue.

Said Petunia.

“What the hell, what do you want to do? All the people you want to avenge are dead. After you became the head of the Mage Tower, rumors spread in the Elven Forest. The man who became the archmage this time drove a competitor to his death.”

Mobius opened his eyes again. He looked at Petunia and asked.

“Why do you think he is dead?”

“Huh?”

“Petunia. Do you think I’d kill the guy who ruined my life so easily? I don’t know how many years I’ve lived through the pain of losing my granddaughter. But will I kill him gracefully?”

Mobius rose from his seat. He moved his steps to the corner of the drawing room and reached out his hand for his picture frame. He was a portrait of a man in uniform with a mustache. Morbius’ old tree-like fingers pressed hard against his moustache, and the whole room began to shake strangely.

“Uh, what…”

Secret door.

Petunia was shocked to see a secret space open between the bookshelves in the drawing room. Mobius moved and said.

“What do you want to do, I asked? I don’t want to achieve anything I don’t want to seek glory, and I don’t want to kill more people.”

Mobius’ blue magic illuminated the dark stairs. At that moment, the face of Petunia, who was following her, literally turned blue. The more I went down the stairs, the more I felt the condensed mana energy from below, and a desperate moan came out as if a ghost was crying.

And in front of the bottom iron window on the lowest floor, Morbius stretched out his hand. The pitch-black shade reacted with his magical energy and lit up the entire underground facility.

“Ah… !”

Petunia realized at that moment. Now, there is no way to convince Mobius, and there is no way to turn it back.

“Petunia.”

Mobius called out Petunia’s name and looked at the facility through the bars. A space filled with complex magic devices. In the corner was an old man with a mana suppression orb, tied to her chain and tormented over and over again.

Mobius said.

“I just want to go back to the past. All I want to see is my granddaughter.”

Petunia realized she couldn’t convince Morbius.

And when she looked into his sad eyes, she knew that she couldn’t kill him.