The Magician’s Memorial - Chapter 36



Only Krnovel

Episode 36

The light from the ‘sun’ crept in through the window.

Quilbian fiddled with his bound hands and looked at Drich, who was sitting across from him.

“Stop looking at it, you’ll fall in love with it.”

Drich said.

“You’re looking because you want to see it. You can see it because it’s right in front of you. If you really don’t like it, turn your head away.”

Quilbian turned his head slightly and looked outside the room. Lil was humming and preparing food. Geron was nowhere to be seen.

He moved his ring finger and made a seal. Nak moved according to his will, but it did not come out of his body.

The ropes binding his hands and feet were preventing him from being released. Could this also be a legal instrument?

I tried to use magic by forming another bond, but it was useless. The Nak just lingered inside my body.

“What can I do?”

Quilbian asked softly. Drich shook his head.

“Don’t move at all. Nakga won’t listen to me.”

“okay?”

Even the Drihi Nak doesn’t move?

“you?”

“Similar.”

We didn’t share the fact that ‘Nak can move’. We had become close enough that it wouldn’t be strange if I stabbed him in the back.

I’d be happy to tell you anything if it would help you escape, but judging by the way you’re turning out, that doesn’t seem to be the case.

“Are you upset?”

Drich said, looking at the floor.

“I told you yesterday. I understand that we can’t die together.”

“You don’t have eyes that understand.”

“Because there was a bit of anticipation. Trust, friendship. Those things you used to say out of habit.”

“It’s funny to say it now, but it’s not that I hate you. I still think of you as a friend. It’s just that I couldn’t help it.”

“Yeah, it can’t be helped.”

I looked into Drich’s eyes as I answered. Drich’s eyes, which were exhaling bitterly as if he was upset, were terribly cold.

“This kid is really great.”

Quilbian held back a laugh as he spoke.

“what?”

“I thought the landlord’s daughter was the worst person I’ve ever seen. Even if Dad is like that, that girl is really… … . But seeing you changed my mind.”

“What are you saying?”

Drich’s eyes twitch.

“I have nothing to do, so tell me something.”

“What are you talking about?”

“The story about stabbing your father.”

Drich chuckled and muttered, “You idiot.”

“In this situation, are you curious about that?”

“If you don’t like it, just keep your mouth shut and go to sleep. There’s nothing we can do about it.”

The reel that was visible in the living room disappeared. Judging from the fact that there was not even the slightest surveillance, it seemed that he had strong faith in the ropes wrapped around his hands and feet.

I thought this was my chance and bit the rope. I chewed it until my front teeth were crushed, but it didn’t come loose.

“Fuck.”

Drich chewed on the rope and spat out.

“Alteria, that bastard tricked us. He said it would be easy to catch someone as tall as Hwang Hyung.”

“I never said we could catch it. We just guessed from what we saw.”

The goblin that would burn to death at Altera’s single gesture was the yellow goblin.

It seemed so easy.

“That dagger didn’t even scratch you once?”

Drich asked.

“uh.”

“There was no chance of winning from the start.”

“I couldn’t even use a talisman. Whenever I tried to cast a spell, Geron’s Nak would intervene and interfere.”

“It’s beggarly, really.”

Drich rested his head against the wall and let out a long sigh.

“According to that damn fatalism, we’re just supporting characters, so are we supposed to die like this?”

“Based on the current situation, I think that will happen.”

“What are the chances that Twella will come to save us? You two were special, right? Huh?”

“You have to know where this is.”

“She sees the future! Then she must have seen what we’ve become.”

Drich grumbled.

“I don’t know if I can see everything, how far I can see, or how accurate it is. I don’t know anything. Above all… … .”

I also question whether our relationship is close enough to warrant taking risks and coming all the way here.

Quilbian swallowed the words that came to his mind.

After experiencing Drich’s transformation, everything felt meaningless. I don’t know how Twella, who overcame hardships together, might have changed.

The last time I saw her, Twella had clearly changed. According to Altera’s description, ‘it’ was a completely different being in the form of Twella.

Assuming Twella’s abilities are true, she must have experienced countless times and events.

“What more than anything? Is there something?”

Drich asked nervously.

“If you’ve changed this much, how much has he changed? When I think about it, I feel sorry, sad, and… .”

“What are you talking about? Hey, wake up. We’re not dead yet. We have to find a way to live.”

Drich crawled across the floor and clung to the door. He glanced outside and then spoke.

“There’s no one.”

“None.”

“You should have told me that a long time ago. You saw everything, so why didn’t you say anything?”

“There isn’t, but if you go out you’ll get caught.”

“what?”

Quilbian could tell. Lil had left, Geron was nowhere to be seen, but still, escape was impossible.

I raised my head slightly.

You can see the narcs flowing across the roof.

It’s Geron’s. The moment you leave the room, information will be transmitted to Geron in some form.

Even if a human with his hands and feet tied crawled for hours, Geron would be able to catch up with him with a few jumps.

Escape is impossible.

“Can’t you see that?”

Quilbian nodded toward the ceiling. Drich looked up with a frown.

“What do you have?”

“It’s okay if you can’t see it.”

There was a rattling sound. It was Reel. He put the tray with the dishes on the floor and came over to me.

“Are you hungry?”

I glanced at the bowl. It contained some kind of porridge. It wasn’t black, though.

“I’m hungry, but my hands look like this and I can’t eat.”

Quillvian showed his hands tied behind his back.

“Don’t worry, I’ll feed you. Drich, just wait a moment.”

Drich kicked the floor with his foot. Lille turned her head and stared at Drich.

“It’s not too late, so let us go.”

“Why me?”

“You’re being fooled too! Goblins are destined to eat people in the end.”

Lil let out a faint smile.

“Goblin, goblin… … How much do you know about that goblin?”

“A monster that kills innocent people. That’s all I need to know. Do I need to know more about those bastards?”

“See? You’re saying that because you don’t know anything. I told you, right? Goblins are just like us. They all have their own circumstances and different wishes.”

“What the hell. I said something stupid to that crazy bitch who’s possessed by a monster.”

Drich was spouting out harsh words while showing his anger, but his eyes were calm. He must be deliberately provoking.

Lil put down the bowl. He turned and approached Drich.

That was when.

Drich kicked the floor with his bent leg. Just before Drich’s torso collided with the reel, Quilbian saw.

The Nak on the rope is wriggling.

With a thud, Drich was pinned to the floor.

“Ugh.”

Drich rolled over with a muffled groan. It wasn’t an ordinary shock, but he just flinched like a stepped on earthworm.

“You can’t do anything. You want to kill Geron? That’s impossible.”

“Sigh… ….”

Lil gently pushed Drich’s face with his foot.

“So please, stay quiet.”

Quilbian looked at the returned reel.

Resistance was impossible, so I had to get something out of it with words.

“What about Geron?”

“I went to bury the children.”

“Should I say it’s detailed?”

“You can keep taunting me. I don’t expect you to understand. It won’t change anything that you’re going to die.”

“If you feed us, Geron will definitely get stronger. The goblins in the dormitory also often eat cadets and become stronger. But is that enough? Can you really get out of here?”

“It’s not like I’ve been playing around for four years. More than anything, it’s because of guys like you that I was able to move up my schedule.”

“schedule?”

Lil blew on the porridge on the spoon. Quilbian ate the porridge without saying a word.

“Good job, eat well.”

“Because I’m hungry.”

“Yeah. I love it when you listen well.”

“I’m going to die anyway, so I’d like you to at least answer my questions. Is that okay?”

“Of course. I tried to explain everything to the kids I could communicate with and convince them.”

“Your sacrifice is necessary?”

“Yes. Your lives are needed for the sake of all the other children held here.”

The words, “Why aren’t you there for that much-needed life?” almost came out with a laugh. Quilbian nodded and opened his mouth.

“Geron, are you a special goblin? How did you get the confidence that you can get out of here?”

“Geron isn’t special. He said so himself. All goblins are the same. But… … we can make Geron special.”

“Is that what it’s like to eat people like me?”

“The expression ‘eating’ is not appropriate. Those of you who have mastered the art of sorcery know, right? You don’t necessarily need to ingest it. What you need is the Nak inside.”

Reel’s spoon pointed at Quilbian’s torso.

“The children that Geron brings here basically have great intuition.”

“the sixth sense?”

“The feeling of feeling nark. That’s called the sixth sense.”

Altera had not told me this information. No, it could have just been Reel babbling away, so I had to filter it out.

“If you have good intuition, it’s easy to learn magic. Those kids have strong seeds in their bodies.”

“A seed?”

“The source of Narc. You know that Narc is created inside the body, right? The organ that creates Narc is called the Seed. It is not a physical organ like the heart or lungs.”

“… … You speak as if you have seen it yourself.”

“It was a necessary process.”

Lil continued speaking with a calm face.

“Because the seeds might be parts that are okay to remove, like hair or fingernails. I told you, I’m not a murderer. I wanted to save those kids, too.”

Quilbian swallowed nervously.

“But when I looked inside, the seed wasn’t a single organ. It was like blood, spread throughout the body.”

It was a reel that calmly told the disgusting truth. How many people are in that woman’s hands…?

The spoon containing the porridge moved. Quilbian looked at the spoon that had come up to his lips.

“Not eating?”

A strong, bloody smell suddenly rose up. It was as bad as the stench of rotting pig manure.

The source of the smell was the tip of Reel’s finger.

I know. Those hands don’t smell at all. The stench is a figment of our imagination.

Quilbian opened his mouth and took a bite of the spoon.

“Yeah, you should eat well.”

The water rose up my throat. I retched, and the porridge in my mouth fell out and onto the floor.

Lil said it was okay and wiped his mouth with the hem of his clothes.

The contradictory kindness made the hairs on my body stand on end.

She said, The cruelest thing to a human being is to another human being.

There was no separate witness, because he was putting into practice what he said.

“If they eat those seeds, will the goblins change?”

“Oh. But not just any seed will do. There has to be a seed that fits Geron’s needs.”

Lil’s hand touched Quilbian’s cheek.

“You are special, Geron said so, so it must be true. The seed that sprouted inside you will make Geron into something else.”

“Then wouldn’t it be better for me to live and help? Since you are the one in need, if I continue to live and provide for you… … .”

Lil’s eyes were filled with sadness.

When Quilbian saw that sight, he felt a surge of anger. There was no mercy in that sorrow. All he could see was his determination to kill.

“I need seeds. Not the narc, but the seeds that are the source of the narc.”

(Continued in next episode)