The Magician’s Memorial - Chapter 21



Only Krnovel

Episode 21

“Quil!”

As soon as I opened the door and went in, Drich came up to me with both arms raised.

“I heard the story. You were chosen by the ascetic? Congratulations, really.”

“It’s nothing.”

“No! A student who sticks around with an ascetic ends up in one of two situations. Either he or she is eliminated or he becomes a special child.”

Quillvien sat up on the bed, smiling.

“I might get eliminated?”

“That would never happen. I’m the only one in the Friendship Academy who is better than you. There’s no way such an excellent student would be eliminated.”

Drich sat down next to me.

“So, what have you been doing?”

“It wasn’t really anything special. I just followed the ascetic around and listened to his stories.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Sorry. I can’t say this even if I wanted to. You know what I mean?”

“If it’s a rule, then there’s nothing I can do.”

Drich lay on the bed, a smile on his face.

“Did something good happen?”

“No, there isn’t.”

“That’s too much of a smile for something like that. To the point where it’s a little annoying.”

“Hey, think about it carefully.”

Drich clenched his fist.

“If you are chosen by the ascetic, it means that I am also chosen.”

Phew, a laugh burst out.

“Huh? It’s not something to laugh about. It’s a very objective evaluation. Don’t all the students, including the Friendship House, know that there’s no difference between you and me? So I’ll be chosen soon too.”

“Do you really want to wear a black robe?”

“That’s obvious. Then you don’t want to receive it?”

“… … I want to receive it too.”

If you catch the eye of the visionary and are assigned to a special class, you will be able to reunite with Twella.

There was a lot I wanted to say. I wanted to share my memories from outside, and I wanted to discuss what would happen in the future.

More than anything, I wanted to eat face to face.

Ding, ding, ding.

The bell rang three times in succession.

“what?”

Drich stood up and looked outside.

“A gathering at this hour? Did they catch some weird guys again?”

“That can’t be it.”

If what Altera said is true, then no child would have been discovered by the goblin.

“Let’s go out for now.”

I left the dorm with Drich.

Children gathered one by one in the empty lot.

“excuse me.”

One child spoke. The cadets’ heads began to bend toward the love house one by one.

It was Twella. There was an ascetic next to him.

For a moment, a dizzying thought crossed my mind.

“That guy, that guy?”

“The guy who said something bad to the sun?”

“You haven’t been eliminated yet? I thought you were eliminated since I haven’t seen you in a while.”

The cadets’ whispers could be heard. Quilbian held back the urge to tell them to shut up.

It’ll be okay, Altera said there was no problem.

Twella, standing in front of the students with the ascetic, bowed her head as if in shyness.

Quilbian could tell it was acting the moment he saw it. The other kids would never have noticed.

“Quiet.”

The ascetic’s words cut off the small talk.

“Please wait a moment. The Seer will be here shortly.”

The children got excited at the word “visionary.” Most of the students started looking around for the visionary.

“Seeing everyone looking so healthy makes me feel good in the morning.”

A sweet voice was heard from behind him. Quilbian turned around, feeling a dizzying sensation as if he was falling from a great height.

It’s that guy.

A visionary I once admired.

The seer’s eyes met. The goblin with a beautiful face smiled compassionately as if he understood everything.

“Quil, Quill. It’s him. He’s here again.”

Drich couldn’t contain his excitement.

The seer passed among the cadets. The cadets looked at the seer with longing faces, then quickly flared their noses. It was as if they wanted to smell the scent for a long time, even though they could not touch it.

It was a disgusting sight.

The seer stood beside Twella. Then, questions arose among the cadets. From the cadets’ perspective, he was someone who should be eliminated, punished, and disappear.

“Evil thoughts can come to you at any time.”

The seer said.

“It is not easy to control that evil mind. Even if your practice deepens, if you do not guard against the evil mind, you will make wrong decisions.”

The seer raised his hand and patted Twella’s head. It was a most gentle touch.

“Why that kid… … .”

Drich didn’t hide his displeasure. The other cadets were the same. Their faces looked as if they couldn’t stand being jealous.

Can you still be envious when you face the truth?

Quilbian was worried about Twella.

She will soon be given a black habit with silver embroidery. She will live alone in a place full of scary goblins.

Twella is different, we don’t have to worry. Even though Alteria emphasized it dozens, hundreds of times, Quilbian still couldn’t relax.

He was a dangerous child.

Even if you learn the law, will the essence change?

That was when I was thinking like that.

I met Twella’s eyes again.

It’s so cold.

It resembled the cold gaze that Altera occasionally showed.

Eyes that are so delicate that they almost fit the word delicate.

He seemed like a completely different person than when I saw him two days ago.

Something fundamental has changed.

Before meeting Altera, Twella’s eyes were anxious yet strong.

Although he was suffering from the repeated beatings and was saying that he wanted to disappear, his eyes held something hot.

Is the kid in front of me really Twella?

Passion, warmth. Those things were completely removed from his eyes. Despite having the visionary right next to him, he looked a little bored, not to mention nervous.

Her eyes were not looking at the ‘now’, as if all this situation meant nothing.

Even in this situation where their eyes met, Twella seemed to see something else.

My heart ached.

I was convinced that I couldn’t leave Twella alone.

I walked forward through the crowded cadets. The cadets whose shoulders I bumped into looked at me with annoyed eyes.

Distance from Twella.

Just about 4 meters.

“What are you doing?”

Drich, who had followed him, grabbed his arm.

“wait for a sec.”

“What are you talking about? No matter how much you want to see the visionary up close, it’s not polite to move like this when he’s talking.”

“That’s not it… … .”

He looked forward and replied.

Twella was looking straight ahead.

It was a strange thing. Just a moment ago, it had been just a pair of cold eyes, but now it was the Twella I knew.

That Twella who was smiling while sharing an apple.

She shook her head slightly.

It was a firm rejection expressed in a gentle gesture.

Quillvian slowly stepped back.

“So, it can be said that the students who have overcome their evil intentions are the ones who truly shine.”

The voice of the visionary has been revived.

People and scenery began to appear in the field of vision that had previously only been visible through Twella.

“Now, Twella. Come forward.”

Twella stood cautiously in front of the seer. The seer placed both hands on Twella’s shoulders.

“Twella was clearly swayed by evil thoughts. However, he did not give in to evil thoughts and overcame them through repeated practice. I was moved. How beautiful is that?”

The cadets began to sob at the words of the visionary who said that he was moved. It seemed as if they had become one with the visionary, no, it seemed as if they were greedy and wanted to share even the smallest bit of the visionary’s emotions.

It’s a scene of madness.

Is all this the result of magic?

Quilbian ruminates on the wickedness and evil of sorcery.

“Although it is unusual, I have decided to give Twella a black habit. The reason I am announcing this to you all is to show you that you too can do it if you try hard.”

The ascetic brought a black robe. Twella accepted it with joy.

The cadets applauded wildly.

He clapped his hands with the same hands he had used to slander Twella, and kicked the ground with the feet he had used to trample on her, cheering.

The moment Twella was acknowledged by the seers, the ‘evil Twella’ that had been in their minds disappeared.

All that remains is ‘Twella, the one to emulate’.

“I mean, I knew he’d turn out like that! I felt it when he held on to his punishment. Isn’t it really touching that my punishment ended up being so helpful? Huh? Quill, what do you think?”

Drich’s eyes were moist. The tip of his nose was also red and looked like it would burst into tears if touched.

It’s disgusting.

But there was no need to be angry. It couldn’t be Drich’s true intention. His friend’s reason was probably locked behind the bars of the law.

“Yeah, that’s touching.”

He responded appropriately and turned his gaze towards Twella.

What are you going to do now?

Twella looked at me as if she had received a question that had been asked in her heart.

She smiled faintly and then pursed her lips.

A silent cry.

Quilbian mulled over in his mind what she had said in silence.

– Quill, smile. That’s enough.

*

“Twella. Can you tell me what you talked about with the Seer?”

“Hey, hey, of course we shouldn’t say that. We don’t have the right to know what that holy man said.”

“Still! I’m curious.”

“Hehe, I’m actually curious too. Can you tell me?”

Twella looked at the cadets gathered in the room.

Ages 8 to 18.

They were really young children.

Twella hugged the three people nearby.

“Why, why?”

“What? Huh? Are you going to tell me up close?”

Twella felt like crying at the desolation of all desires being directed at the seer.

“It’s okay. It’ll be fixed soon.”

All the past cruelties of hitting, spitting, and ignoring have already been forgotten.

The waves of memory were too vast to remember such trivial things.

It hurt so much I thought I was going to die, but even that felt like child’s play.

Little children.

Twella suddenly wondered about her own age. Her physical age might be similar to theirs, but what about her mental age?

A flood of memories.

The total amount of time that had piled up was now meaningless to estimate.

Life is so long, I thought to myself.

“What is being solved?”

“Stop it and tell me quickly, okay?”

Twella took out the magic word and silenced the cadets.

“That can’t be. It’s the rule. It’s the promise I made with the Seer.”

“Really? Then you shouldn’t tell me. Hey, let’s go quickly. Twella is busy packing.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

The cadets stepped back cleanly as if they had been struggling for a while.

Twella packed her few personal belongings into her bag and changed into her black monk’s robe.

I ran my fingers over the silver embroidery engraved on his chest. It contained a salty scent mediated by Nak.

Watch as much as you want.

Because it’s all meaningless.

Twella packed her bags and went outside.

“You came.”

Hyo-dan was waiting.

The greed that filled both eyes was so clear that it was embarrassing.

“From now on, I will take care of you.”

“Really?”

“Yes. I will take responsibility for everything from A to Z, so do your best.”

“Thank you, thank you very much.”

Hyo-dan said, wrapping his arm around her shoulder.

“Okay, let’s move. From now on, we will be living in the eternal land.”

I looked at Hyo-dan, who was leading the way, for a moment and then turned my gaze towards Woo-jeong-jip.

It won’t be the last.

We’ll meet two more times, maybe three more times.

“Take care.”

Twella followed Hyo-dan, leaving behind a farewell that could not be reached.

(Continued in next episode)