The Magician’s Memorial - Chapter 31



Only Krnovel

Episode 31

Geron moved towards the eastern hill instead of the western one. He walked while glancing at the west that was getting further away.

“There is always a watchman waiting over there.”

Geron said.

“Why are you helping us?”

Drich asked.

“I just keep the things that I want to keep alive. That’s all.”

It was an answer that was difficult to guess the inside story. Quilbian followed Geron, but kept looking around.

So that I could react quickly in case there were other goblins hiding. But after thinking about it a little more, I realized that there was no reason to set a trap.

Goblins, they are strong.

No knight would be heavily armed to hunt a young deer.

“This way.”

Geron pushed through the bushes as if he was used to it.

After walking for about 20 minutes, relying on the flickering light of the lantern, Geron stopped in the middle of a forest filled with only the sounds of insects.

Quilbian gasped for breath. His legs were sore from all the nervous movement. He glanced at Drich. He looked quite tired as well.

“This is a place that the managers don’t pay attention to. It’s a waste disposal site, so they don’t come here often.”

When I heard the word “scraper,” my eyes naturally went down. I saw a long bone. As soon as I saw it, I realized it was a human leg bone.

I felt like the blood in my whole body was running cold.

“I know how you feel, but you have to move this way so you don’t get caught.”

Geron raised his lantern.

There were countless bones lying underfoot.

Reality vanished for a moment. Quilbian stared blankly at the white field, then shook his head.

“Fuck.”

The curse just came out on its own.

How many people have died here?

I thought of the carnivores that were gorging on human remains in the restaurant. Could they have moved the bones here?

My legs trembled slightly. I realized once again how terrible this place was.

Is Drich okay?

“… …Fuck.”

Drich was looking at the bones with a frown, his hands clenched so tightly that the tendons were visible.

“You guys are truly horrible.”

Drich said to Geron.

“It may seem that way to you. But if the paper is different, the perspective is bound to be different. Of course, I don’t expect you to understand.”

Geron crossed the bone zone.

Quilbian gritted his teeth and stepped on the bone. The strange sensation transmitted through his shoes made him shudder.

“Where are you going?”

I followed along silently, but I gradually had to figure out the destination.

It was quite far from the dormitory, so if Geron had other intentions, he would have to deal with them here.

“If you want to fight, do so. But if you kill your only helper, you will not return alive.”

“aid?”

“As I said, I only help living things that want to live. Just as you humans love and cherish your cute dogs, I also love you quite a bit. Of course, I don’t love you more than my own life. If you fight, I will kill you. How can I trust a beast that bares its teeth?”

“We are not beasts. You are the beast.”

“Can you say that to the chickens you eat?”

“A chicken is a chicken.”

“Humans think they are the most special. They are the only ones who say without a second thought that they are chosen by God.”

Although the unpleasant words came out in protest, Quilbian was surprised.

Ascetics.

I thought that all the goblins of the Yellow Emperor were ignorant, straightforward, and uncommunicative monsters.

– Goblins are different from each other. They are the same as humans.

What Altera had said came to mind.

A monster that can communicate, not a monster that cannot communicate. As the conversation continued, it became no different from a smart human being.

“The place you were staying was a general pen. A low-grade pen. And the general pen is located at the east end.”

east?

Geron stopped walking again.

A lantern held high in the sky.

A swarm of scattered lights illuminated the surrounding area.

A dense forest of trees. It’s nothing special, so why did we stop here?

“ah.”

Quilbian looked straight ahead. At the same time, he realized the meaning of the words ‘eastern end’.

The light could not advance.

It seemed like I was blocked by a transparent wall. I walked forward, looking at the light spreading along the wall.

As I got closer and checked, it became more certain. Something invisible was blocking everything in front of me.

Two twinkling lights appeared beyond the impenetrable wall.

It was a young wild boar. It popped its head out of the bushes and soon began pacing around with its nose buried in the ground.

Then the mother appeared with other piglets, each as big as a cow.

A wild boar looked around and stuck its snout out.

It was the direction where Quilbian was standing.

“You think you saw us?”

Drich, standing next to me, said.

At the same time, the boar flew away.

A situation where a large pig rushes at him from the front. Quilbian quickly jumps to the side.

And then I saw it.

A wild boar that was running away disappeared before my eyes.

“what?”

I turned my head repeatedly in confusion, but I couldn’t see the wild boar.

What is this?

It wasn’t an illusion. The boar was definitely right before my eyes. Even the growling sound…

“Wait a minute. Drich, did you hear me?”

“sound?”

“The sound of a boar crying. And the sound of it running.”

“Now that I think about it, I don’t think I heard it.”

The lights came closer. Geron said with a blank expression on his face.

“This is an isolated place. You can see it, but you can’t go there.”

“You can’t go?”

Quillvian reached out his hand. His hand touched the spot where the light was not spreading and spreading.

Something tingling was felt.

I tried to push it hard, but it didn’t budge.

“You call it the world of this world and the afterlife, right? Maybe the realm of peace. Or the realm of the two sides. Whatever you call it, it doesn’t matter. The important thing is that it’s a place you can never leave.”

Beyond the blank wall, a mother boar’s snout appeared. Short ears, a torso, and hind legs followed, as if popping out of a picture.

“It shares the same shape, but it’s a completely different place. There’s no way out of here.”

“That’s ridiculous.”

Quillvian lifted his head, his hand on the wall. Light was crawling up the wall.

Sky wall.

The name of the cage that holds humans.

“Eww!”

Drich screamed and waved his hand. He was holding a black hammer that he had taken out at some unknown time.

The black hammer created by the talisman hit the wall.

There was no strong impact sound or repulsion.

Drich’s hammer was buried gently as if he had thrown himself into a soft blanket.

No matter how many times Drich swung his hammer, nothing changed.

Drich, panting and stepping back, releases the seal. The hammer he was holding in his hand shatters into small pieces and disappears.

“You learned sorcery.”

Geron said.

“No matter what I do, I can’t get out of here.”

Quilbian approached Geron.

“Why did you bring us here?”

“Because you have to know reality to be able to give up hope. You have to live in this.”

“Don’t lie. We’re going to get out of here. There’s only one way in, and no way out? I don’t believe that kind of nonsense.”

“You guys were just unlucky.”

“what?”

“We didn’t kidnap you or lure you here. We just happened to have an opening, and you ended up falling in there.”

“Then let’s go back and find that gap!”

“If you’re lucky, you might meet one. But I’ve never met a lucky person before. How would I know? Because you’ve all become the residue of what you’ve stepped on.”

Bones floated before my eyes.

“Now that things are sorted out, let’s move.”

I moved with the sky wall on my left. If I just turned my head slightly, there was the outside world I had been longing for, but I couldn’t move forward.

It was crazy.

You’re saying you have to be lucky to find the exit?

“A beggarly fate.”

Even though I didn’t want to think about it, I couldn’t help but think of Altera’s fatalism.

“excuse me.”

Drich cautiously called Geron.

“why?”

“Every night, I would wander around the dormitory, looking for things here and there on my own… … .”

“It’s to take away brainwashed kids like you. I can help you if I find you early. Of course, most of them don’t believe me and go crazy and die.”

When the brainwashing wears off, the monsters along with the true nature of the black corpse come into view. At the same time, the cadets who live as if they have no brain also become aware.

It would be difficult to have faith in that situation.

“The people you saved… … .”

Quilbian kept his mouth shut.

I saw a shabby house. It had a rough-hewn wooden roof and walls plastered with clay. It was a shabby house that looked like it would collapse in an instant if it rained, but it didn’t rain here, so it was okay.

There was a noise in the house.

The people who cautiously showed their faces were people I was seeing for the first time.

The oldest-looking woman looked to be in her early twenties, and the rest looked to be around ten years old.

A total of seven.

They approached Geron in relief.

“I was worried because I hadn’t heard from you for a while.”

“I’m sorry. I couldn’t leave the place because the seers came and went often.”

Geron bent down. The tail that had been wrapped inside the rags was sticking out, and a bundle was hanging from the tail.

“Take it.”

It looked edible.

“Really people… … .”

Drich spoke hesitantly.

As if he couldn’t believe the sight unfolding before his eyes.

Quilbian looked at the expressions of the children standing next to Geron. They were all bright. It was clear that they trusted and relied on Geron.

Are you really a goblin who cares about humans?

“You must be tired. Take a rest.”

Geron pointed to the house.

Quilbian and Drich went inside cautiously. Despite the shabby exterior, the inside was quite nice.

“You too received help from Geron.”

The oldest-looking woman approached and spoke. I was annoyed by the title “nim,” but I didn’t find fault with it.

“Were they all held in the dormitory?”

Quilbian asked.

“That’s right. I was held there with my memories erased.”

A woman who identified herself as Lil offered me a seat. It was a chair made from pieces of wood put together.

I can feel the passage of time.

It looks like it was made quite a while ago.

I sat on the chair and looked towards the entrance. The children who had been clinging to Geron were staring at me.

It’s a face that says a strange human is scarier than a goblin.

“this.”

Lil held out two glasses for me to drink. The crude cups made of baked clay contained apple juice.

“Nice to meet you.”

I drank it in one gulp. The sweetness somewhat diluted the tension.

“I’ll go and look into it.”

Geron left. Lil went out to greet Geron and then returned.

It was a strange sight. A human praying for the safety of a goblin.

“You must have had a hard time, right?”

“Oh, yes.”

“Don’t worry, it’s safe here.”

It was a reel with a good smile.

“But how long have you been here?”

Quilbian asked, looking around the house.

Not only the chair, but all the household items were marked by the passage of time.

“I counted the days based on the sun rising here, and I think it’s been about four years.”

“Four years?”

It was a dizzying number.

Along with the surprise that I had survived here for four years, I was overcome with despair at not being able to leave this place for four years.

“I know what you’re thinking, but you can do anything if you’re alive.”

Lil reached out and took Quilbian and Drich’s hands.

“Let’s hold on together. Only by holding on can we find hope.”

(Continued in next episode)