At The End Of The Hidden Greenery

There was a reason why she thought it was an illusion. Jiwoo stretched her trembling hand to Tevon’s face, and Tevon rubbed his cheek against Jiwoo’s hand like a puppy.

“H-How…? I thought the outer wall was destroyed…”

Unable to believe the feeling in her hand, Jiwoo jumped into his arms.

She rubbed her face against his chest, and she could feel the peculiar smell of the children of Elandos. The subtle scent of moss that can be smelled on wet trees after rain. It was definitely Tevon.

The beating of her heart intensified. Tevon held Jiwoo in his arms and turned around.

“Ah, Seo Jiwoo, why are you so pretty today?”

Jiwoo didn’t know how she looked.

She got up early in the morning, put on the clothes and jewelry someone had put on her.

Someone touched her face with a brush, too, but Jiwoo kept having no feelings, so it was just embarrassing. Besides, she must have cried a lot now, so even that makeup was smudged.

Tevon couldn’t stand it and kissed Jiwoo’s cheek and said dreamily.

“You’re like the incarnation of Elandos.”

It must be a high praise for those who regard Elandos as sacred.

Jiwoo, belatedly concerned about her face, touched her eyes with the back of her hand, but Tevon looked at her with honey dripping eyes.

“The other wall. The outer wall.”

Jiwoo trembled in demand for an explanation.

“It was necessary. We had to erase our tracks.”

Jiwoo was still puzzled, and while Tevon was excited, so Helkainis told her briefly.

“Seo Jiwoo, now we have decided to leave this continent. We have reached Caranazion in search of the possibility of curing Elandos. We have accomplished our goal, so we must return.”

“Then what about… this commotion? Did you guys make it?”

Hellkainis closed his eyes for a moment and was lost in thought.

In the meantime, the sound of bombing continued. People were busy screaming and running away, and those who initially asked the Akarna’s help were now too far away.

Leaving behind such a fuss and maintaining a calm expression, Helka seemed completely cut off from this world. It was all the more so because he was floating in the air using magic.

After a while, he seemed to find a way to explain the calculations in his head to Jiwoo.

“I learned that the people of Karbaaude are looking for a substitute. There were two possibilities. First, if you are protected by the Crown Prince, or if you, the only Akarna, are killed. If it’s the latter…”

“Anyway, we’re here to smash everything.”

Replacing Helkainis, who spoke longer because of his old age, Tevon spoke briefly.

“But it seems those like us have retreated.”

“Is that possible…?”

The people of the outer wall lived miserably without Akarna.

So, their development was slow, and they were despised by the imperial people. So, Jiwoo vaguely thought that they were barbarians living in an underdeveloped area.

There was a strong prejudice that persisted even after living with them for some time.

“Because there was no need for that in the meantime. We didn’t go to war with Caranazion. We came to find a way to cure Elandos. But…”

Tevon said while wiping Jiwoo’s eyes.

“I’ll break it down completely if you want.”

“…That’s too reckless.”

“Haha.”

Helkainis, who usually seemed extremely restrained, laughed softly. He, too, seemed amused by the situation.

“What about the treatment possibilities you discovered?”

“That is Seo Jiwoo.”

The sound of his voice calmed her down and wiped away the tears. Her thoughts were gradually calming down.

“It’s stupid…”

“Why is that?”

“What were you going to do if I said I wasn’t going?”

Helkainis’ plan was based on the premise that Seo Jiwoo would follow them. That’s not an exact treatment method, but only by believing in the possibility.

This man was very strange.

He asked questions and made recommendations in a polite and careful tone, but acted confidently as if the future events or the other person’s intentions had already been decided.

It was like looking ahead, and in a way, it seemed like he was doing whatever he wanted.

“What … are you not getting married?”

But Tevon reacted to those words first. He forced a pouting expression on his face with a blush.

“You’re too fickle.”

“Will you not marry us?”

While the answer had already been decided, they asked her intention once again.

Jiwoo was very embarrassed to say it again here. It was as if the answer they hadn’t expected came while talking as if she was crying out in her mind.

“…I want to get married.”

“Then take this.”

Tevon pulled a small ring box from his chest pocket. The box folded in half, opened to reveal a small ring inside.

“I heard it was made by Enci, but he didn’t have a chance to give it to you. What’s stupid was that he made only a rough stone and tried to twist it with a thread. Callan saw it first and was against it.”

A white ring. It looked like metal, but it appeared to have been carved out of wood. Judging from the sacred white color, it seemed to have been carved from the Ellandos’ branch that Jiwoo had saved in the past.

“Ah, the shape was cut by Lanceil.”

And the jewel in the middle. The color of the jewel was pitch black for a proposal ring. The gem was large, finely polished, and had many facets.

It was very beautiful as it reflected five colors of light at every angle it moved, but the essence was black. She had to ask.

“Why is it this color?”

“It’s just like you.”

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A color similar to her. By their standards, it seemed to be made in this color because of her black hair and black eyes.

However, this also resembles the color of the beasts and miasma. She couldn’t help but be concerned about the new information she had learned about Akarna.

“…Hey, will I be okay?”

“Why?”

“Akarna is essentially no different from a beast. I am no ordinary human being, and maybe I could be a threat to you.”

“Really?”

Tevon was still smiling in a good mood.

“What does it matter? I don’t know what the difference is between the humans of Caranazion and the people of other worlds to us in El Ragneil.”

Tevon didn’t think it was a big deal and pressed Jiwoo’s forehead.

“Don’t frown. Seo Jiwoo is so pretty today, let’s get married like this.”

The race that invaded the wedding ceremony of the noblest imperial family in the empire was stealing the most beautiful bride.

As they walked around the temple, Jiwoo, the stolen bride, kept glancing behind.

“…Seo Jiwoo.”

Helkainis asked quietly.

“Do you want to destroy it?”

“…No. This is the last remaining sacred place… People here cannot summon Akarna immediately unless it is here…”

Even if Jiwoo decided to leave this place completely, the people here had to continue living in Caranazion.

The temple was a precious place to them. If the temple disappears, the chaos that will shake Caranazion in the future is unimaginable..

“Tevon.”

When Helkainis called for Tevon, Tevon, who was running while holding Jiwoo, stopped. And put Jiwoo down for a while.

Still floating in the air, Hellkainis held out a hand to Jiwoo. Jiwoo held on quietly.

“Ack, wait… Ah!”

Jiwoo’s feet fell off the ground. She went a little higher and higher. Finally approaching the top of the temple, he took the jittery Jiwoo and circled around as if dancing.

He took the Crown Prince’s engagement ring from Seo Jiwoo’s hand and threw it to the floor. A sparkling white jewel fell somewhere there.

Helka put a new ring on her finger and pressed his lips against it.

His expression was expressionless, as always.

He asked again.

“Seo Jiwoo, do you want to destroy it?”

“No, it’s okay…”

Seeing Akarna floating above the temple with the other race, people here and there shouted.

The screaming sound was terribly cracked.

Akarna! Please save us!
Why are you not doing your duty?
If so, please summon the new Akarna quickly!
There’s no way Akarna will abandon us! That’s not the Akarna!
That’s a witch! The witch has brought in blasphemes to destroy the temple!
You witch! Bring the Akarna back!

Jiwoo closed her eyes tightly.

“Seo Jiwoo, do you want to destroy it?”

Jiwoo couldn’t answer. She just bit her lip and held back her tears.

Helkainis raised a hand in the air. A huge black magic circle rose, enveloping the entire temple.

Jiwoo looked at him in surprise, but Helkainis didn’t stop. With one gesture of his hand, the magic circle vibrated in unison and bombarded the temple.

What followed was a much louder sound than the commotion that had occurred earlier. It was a terrible roar, as if hundreds of lightning bolts were falling.

With just one shot, half of the temple was reduced to dust. And one more time, a new magic circle emerged.

The brand of Elandos, bigger and more threatening than the brand of the red maned lion.

“Ah…”

As he acted while ignoring her intentions, she looked down blankly at the aftermath. She couldn’t even hear the voices of the people who shouted at her and called her a witch.

“I told you not to…”

Helkainis always skipped over other people’s answers.

He’s an arrogant person, as if he knew in advance what the answer would be. But she couldn’t hate him.

Hellkainis was a sage who had lived for a thousand years, and he always acted on the premise that he was always correct—and that was generally the case.

Seeing the bombardment fall through the magic circle once more, Jiwoo had to stop him from doing so.

This was what she thought in her head.

However, what came out of her mouth was—

“Haha…”

Jiwoo’s emotions were obviously ruined. So she ended up not knowing whether she should cry or laugh.

“Aha, hahaha…”

Perhaps that is why laughter broke out out of nowhere in the present situation, when she should have shed tears out of pity for their despair.

“Hahahahahaha!”

The biggest and most pleasant laugh erupted since she met them.

She shouldn’t be laughing. She was not in a situation to laugh. However, Seo Jiwoo’s face, with her eyes closed and full of smiles, looked purer than any other child in the world.

Her emotions were irreversibly ruined. Surely that’s why she can laugh so brightly.