The Magician’s Memorial - Chapter 47



Only Krnovel

Episode 47

I opened my eyes.

A faint light was visible in the darkness that had engulfed all around. It seemed that the old man was on the rooftop again today.

Quillvian swept his hand along the wall next to the bed.

170 days after arriving at the dormitory.

It may not be the exact date since I marked it every time I woke up, but it probably wouldn’t be too far off.

Somehow I managed to hold out for half a year.

I put my feet into the shoes that were neatly placed. I moved my left foot slightly and the rope touched my ankle.

I walked out along the line. I took two steps to the right again. This time the line touched my right ankle.

I counted the steps in my head and then reached out my hand. I felt the smooth container.

I opened the lid and took out the coffee beans.

A long yawn.

Since my body had perfectly remembered the series of tasks, I was able to move around with my brain half-off.

I poured boiling water and wound the wind-up clock that I had placed on the shelf. I sniffed, listening to the tick-tick-tick sound of the wind-up.

He put the toshi in his right hand and lifted it gently. At that moment, a bird flew in and landed on his hand.

“What’s today?”

The bird brought him a large sweet potato. He placed the bird on his shoulder and held out his right hand behind him.

The line touched the back of my hand. I leaned on the line and went to the storage room, put the sweet potatoes down, and returned to the coffee shelf.

Ting!

The wind-up clock ticked.

I took out the cotton cloth hanging on the stick and poured coffee into a cup. The coffee beans that ‘God’ brought changed every time, but today, the fresh aroma was strong.

I headed to the rooftop with coffee in hand.

“Here it is.”

He held out his coffee towards the crowd of lights.

How about today’s evaluation? The coaster made a rattling sound.

“762nd.”

“Why is it that it fell compared to last time?”

“It would have been 541st if it had been a little hotter, what a pity.”

“If you want hotter coffee, come downstairs. I always make that blind kid deliver it upstairs.”

“I don’t want to bother going down.”

“A person who can get off with just a snap of a finger, really.”

He stretched both hands out in front of him. The coffee cup settled into his palm.

“excuse me.”

Quilbian opened his mouth. It was ambiguous whether to call him uncle or god, so he ended up calling him ‘over there’.

I called him there every time, but he didn’t say anything, so the nickname became fixed.

But today was different.

“Winte.”

“yes?”

“Call me Winterra. That’s the name I’ll be using for the time being.”

“… … It would have been better if you had told me in advance.”

“I just remembered. I don’t usually use names. There’s no need for them.”

“So now that you’ve named it, does that mean it’s necessary now?”

Quillvin smiled and asked back.

“A promise is a promise.”

The man, no, Winte, often mentioned promises. Although he would not answer when asked who he made the promise to or what the promise was about.

“Anyway, it seems like a good thing for me.”

“Well, we’ll see.”

“Winte, please call me Quilbian too.”

“No, you just have to be one of ‘this guy,’ ‘that guy,’ or ‘that bastard.’”

“If that’s more convenient, then do it. I’m used to being called that too.”

“Tough guy.”

“That’s not bad either.”

I was about to go downstairs holding a glass.

“What are you planning to do?”

Winte’s words caught his ankle.

“Me? I have to live. I have to fix my eyes and my head.”

“What next?”

“We have to get out of here. This is a fucking place.”

“What next?”

Quillvian shrugged.

“I don’t know. I could die without being able to survive, open my eyes, or get out of here… … Then what am I going to do?”

“A negative guy.”

“I’m trying to think positively. I’ve become a semi-retard, but I’ve survived this far. I guess that’s a positive thing.”

“I guess that may be true from a human perspective.”

“What about Winte?”

Quilbian saw the dim light suddenly become clearer.

“me?”

“Yes, what are you going to do next, Winte?”

“We will see how the world is ruined and how it is fixed.”

“Is the world going to be ruined?”

“The signs were seen long ago and have already progressed considerably. Those things you call goblins are the result of an error.”

“I mean, I can’t understand a word Winte is saying.”

“You don’t need to know. You will die without seeing it anyway. The human race’s lifespan is too short to comprehend this event. Only a select few, born at the fateful moment of either total destruction or total independence, will witness the change.”

“That damn fate.”

Quillvian snorted.

“Can you see destiny, Winte? Some people say they can see a huge flow.”

“To some extent. But I too am a part of fate, so I cannot escape it.”

“If you are close to God, you can destroy that thing called fate.”

“Why do I need to do that with my own hands? It’s already broken.”

“Huh? Then there is no such thing as fate anymore?”

“It still exists. But it will disappear someday. No, it may remain forever.”

“I don’t know anything.”

“Yeah. I know I don’t know.”

It was a head-scratching topic.

Quilbian quietly walked up the stairs. What use is the world or destiny when they can’t even protect me?

I washed the cup with the water I brought and sat on the chair placed outside the dormitory.

After making my coffee, there was nothing much to do. All I could do was sit on the chair and fiddle with my Nak.

I tried to touch it persistently after losing my sight, but Nak didn’t move at all. If it had just disappeared, I would have given up, but I could feel it remaining inside my body.

I have it but I can’t use it.

It was a frustrating situation.

“I’ll go out and come back.”

A voice came from above.

“Yes, please do.”

Winte came and went freely. Even though Lil and Geron had been harassing each other for four years, they couldn’t make a single hole in the wall, but Winte came and went without any restrictions, just like he was going in and out of the house.

I once asked him to take me out, but the answer I got was, ‘Then you’ll die.’

It’s like they can’t handle the load when crossing the double-sided area or something.

It was a complicated statement, but I didn’t ask for an explanation. I knew I would suffer terrible pain just like last time.

He held onto the rope that crossed the vacant lot and ran slowly. If he didn’t keep moving his body, he would get sick and die, that was one of the things Quilbian had learned.

After running so hard that I was drenched in sweat, I sat down on a chair to catch my breath.

For the first time in a long time, really, a long time, I had an ominous feeling.

I turned my head towards the disgusting atmosphere. I couldn’t see it, but there was something there.

And that something is most likely a goblin.

I grabbed the rope and quickly entered the room. I leaned against the wall and held my breath.

If the other person saw me, this would all end up as a meaningless act, but if he didn’t see me, I would have a chance to live.

Knock, knock. Something heavy was approaching, scratching the floor.

He entered the dormitory and walked down the hallway. Quilbian was holding a sharp stone that he always kept by his bedside.

Please don’t open it, please.

Even while wishing so, he lifted the stone.

I’ve never been lucky. Quilbian had a feeling that the door would open and the intruder would find me.

This stone probably wouldn’t help.

I can’t even rebel and I’ll just have one meal.

Still.

That’s when I heard the sound of the door opening.

Beep!

The shrill cry of a bird erupted from outside. The intruder let go of the doorknob. The ominous aura that had been lingering in front of the door gradually faded away.

“Come here… … come… … I… … .”

It was a voice like scraping iron.

Quilbian slowly released the breath he had been holding.

My heart was pounding wildly. If it weren’t for the bird, I would have died for sure.

By the way, is the bird okay?

It was a friend who was as important to my life as anything else. Not in an abstract sense, but if you don’t have a bird, it becomes difficult to get food.

I sat up, feeling the window frame. I could hear noises outside.

You ran away, right? You have wings, so you flew high and were safe, right?

At that moment, a sound was heard that crushed all expectations.

Something hit the wall of the dormitory with a thud. The sound of weak wings flapping. Then a feeble cry.

no.

Although it was not visible, it was easy to imagine what happened.

The footsteps of the intruder drew closer.

Meanwhile, the bird’s cry became thinner.

If you hide like this, there is a chance of survival. You get a chance through the death of the bird.

Everyone lives like that.

Drich did it, and Twella did it.

After all, what matters is my life.

“Fuck, I should have just thrown it away and run away.”

Why didn’t that bird do that?

Even people abandon their own kind, so why do beasts protect humans?

Before the thought could even finish, Quilbian opened the window and leapt outside.

My landing was messed up because I couldn’t see. I scraped the ground with my face. But it didn’t matter.

If you can catch the goblin’s attention, that’s enough.

I stood up, pressing down on the ground. Fortunately, I didn’t drop the sharp stone I was holding in my left hand.

“You guys are such fucking assholes. Can’t you just leave me alone? Huh? I’m already so miserable!”

He shouted, swinging the hand holding the stone roughly.

“And you too! Why would you come forward when all you had to do was throw me something to eat? Huh? It’s just a new topic. I may be blind, but I’m a better fighter than you!”

I just talked as best I could.

While worrying about when they would attack.

Drumroll, another unpleasant sound was heard.

Coming.

But which direction is it coming from?

Phew!

My body floated up and flew away. I rolled around on the ground several times before I was able to stop.

I was hit in the side. Fortunately, the impact was enough to send my body flying, but only my flesh was cold and my bones weren’t broken.

Is it because my body has become stronger from being beaten so much?

Or is my brain so damaged that I can’t even properly distinguish pain?

It seemed more like the latter than the former.

Because he had auditory hallucinations and visions every day, Winte often called him a ‘crazy guy’.

“There’s one good thing about being crazy.”

Ugh, even though my bones seemed fine, they still hurt. I stood up, covering my side.

If it was a goblin like Geron, I would have killed it in one go.

wait for a sec.

He speaks awkwardly and is somewhat clumsy when it comes to exerting himself. Is the guy in front of me a goblin who can’t even reach the level of a yellow dragon?

I was reminded of the lice that were eating the trash in the restaurant.

Things that are not easy.

Something fishy flowed into my mouth. It was blood. Damn, was my head broken?

He raised his hand and wiped his forehead.

It was slippery. It seemed like quite a bit of blood was flowing.

Knock, knock.

A goblin was approaching from afar.

If I just saw it, I’d throw a tantrum.

If only it could be seen!

Suddenly, I remembered what Winte had said. Vision does not perfectly correspond to the concept of ‘seeing’.

Although he was blind, Winte could see a faint light.

It wasn’t the eye working. It was something other than the eye working.

What do I see through what?

I often feel an ominous premonition. It was strange that I could know the direction clearly even though it was just a premonition.

And the ‘sixth sense’ that Lil mentioned.

They say that if you have good intuition, it is easy to learn magic.

Does that mean I have a sixth sense too?

A sense that is completely different from sight, hearing, or anything like that. A sense that is felt through something other than the body.

Nak.

At that moment, sparks appeared before my eyes.

A spark so small that it looks like it will disappear if you blow on it.

The sparks were slowly approaching.

Quilbian realized it was a goblin.

The single spark multiplied in an instant. Hundreds and thousands of red dots appeared on the black paper, forming a certain shape.

It was a snail-like thing.

There were several insects huddled together.

Quilbian smiled brightly.

It is visible.

That damn thing.

He flew while holding a sharp stone in his hands.

(Continued in next episode)