Disclaimer: Some words or phrases may be lost in translation. The word might not have a literal translation in English or there may be sayings in Korean culture that I am not familiar with.
(athanasiafrost)
“Huh?”
It was unexpected, like a flash of lightning. I set the pint glass I had just raised on the table.
“I… Why can’t I live a long life?”
My heart thumped and fell. The conversation turned into something that was implausible.
“Somehow… I can not believe that Barbara didn’t tell me, but… But I guess she didn’t really bother to.”
I was absolutely ignorant of the truth. Zion’s demeanor suddenly shifted. He was the one who told me this information, and his expression was one of devastation.
“Where am I sick?”
Anxiousness was swaying me as I pondered it. I was bothered by my heartache, which was affecting me even more lately.
I looked at Vincent carefully. Vincent avoided my eyes and downed the entire beer in his glass. It appeared that he was also aware of this.
I was the only one in the organization who was unaware that my death was just around the corner.
He should have told me, but he didn’t. I recalled a situation in which I disobeyed an organization’s order with the mindset that ‘my life is going to be short regardless.’
“I will not live long… Does it mean it’s difficult for me to live long? What did I expect? It was fishy.”
I gave Zion and Vincent a joke that wasn’t at all amusing as I rolled my eyes. However, they made no attempt to laugh, so I asked warily.
“So, am I able to live up to 50? No, fo me to live a long time… 40 years old, maybe?”
It was regrettable at 40, but I figured it would be alright in its own way. Uncertainty remained visible on their faces. I groaned and desperately questioned.
“I still have ten years left, right? I might be able to receive treatment if I go to the hospital.”
At my earnest question, Vincent ordered another beer. Zion sighed and explained.
“According to Barbara, the more often a holy power is used, the more traces it leaves on the user’s body, making it easier for them to be spotted. Therefore, it becomes easier to pinpoint your location by the temple, the more often you use holy power. Most individuals are unaware of this fact, but…”
Zion added hurriedly, then spoke calmly, seeing my baffled expression.
“Priests are covertly enrolled in the temple for a reason. They claim that even if you flee after your holy power examination, the temple would eventually track you down if you frequently use your holy power in secret “
I scowled a little as Zion continued his explanation.
Meanwhile, I’ve been using unauthorised holy power all the time. However, Johannes Noavik would not have pursued me if I had been sought out by the temple.
“So what happened to me? Why is it impossible for the temple to find me?”
“Well… that…”
Zion sighed and had a perplexed look on his face. He looked to Vincent as if asking for assistance, but Vincent merely gulped the beer and made it clear that he was not going to step in.
Eventually, Zion couldn’t take look me in the eyes and muttered sadly.
“Lardin, who had heard of it, became furious since he had bought you for nothing at such a large cost. Barbara, however, immediately gave him the solution.”
“A solution?”
“Simply by carving an ancient magic circle into your heart, he can prevent you from being hunted down when using your holy power. In exchange, you would not live past the age of 25…”
I was sitting motionless. I was vaguely aware of the steps they have taken to keep me from being tracked down by the temple. Was that what this magical circle meant?
Furthermore, twenty-five was a rather low number. I had just turned 24 at this point. So, I was only left with a few months to live.
“Twenty…..Five?”
I questioned, gesturing at my heart as if I were dumbfounded.
“Then… In my heart…. there’s an engraved ancient magic circle?”
“Yes.”
Zion nodded heavily.
“Lardin gave you a sleeping tablet when you were seven years old and had one of the men, a wizard, engrave it as soon as he heard Barbara say those words.”
Zion’s smile, which had been there merely out of politeness, vanished completely as Vincent downed the last of the drink.
“Ha ha ha….”
I lowered my eyes and smiled dejectedly.
I had received a death sentence on the day I found freedom.
And only I was unaware of it. Everyone in the organization was aware of it.
There was no reason for me to doubt their story, because nobody benefited from it.
In addition, the searing pain that is still tingling in my heart is an evidence of it. It also explained why the pain increased as I grew older—specifically, as I approached 25.
Even though I used holy power like breathing, I had no idea why I could use holy power to my heart’s content. Well, what did I know so far? I didn’t even know what a handshake was.
I thought for a moment, then asked cautiously.
“Then, by any chance is there a way to erase the magic circle… Do you know?”
Naturally, no positive response was provided.
“…I heard that once an ancient magic circle is engraved, there is no turning back; it becomes a part of the body and cannot be undone.”
As soon as I caught sight of Zion’s dejected countenance, I had a guess the response.
I was on the verge of being attached to living. However, I later discovered the horrible truth.
Ace was genuinely determined to use me as a weapon.
Looking back, Barbara has been recently pushing me to the point where I fear I was going too far. Recently, Lardin exclaimed more to want the Time Stone, forcing me to hunt more frequently than previously, but this was just because I had a limited lifespan.
For a while, a cruel silence descended upon our table.
Vincent was the first one to speak.
“Why don’t we just move to the South and live our lives as we please? Let’s plan it, even if you have nothing you want to do.”
He looked right at me with his green eyes.
“They claim that the southern sea is beautiful. The corals are believed to glow in a variety of hues even if you only enter the water briefly. Even during winter, it doesn’t get chilly until later in the day. There is even a designated nap time, regardless of how long the days are.”
It was an impersonal remark. I had never been to the South before, and it unfurled before my eyes like a painting. It might be the best solace for a blunt man who has always lived with only weapons in mind.
“We were able to flee because of you, so I’ll comply with any request.”
It meant making the most of one’s time on earth, no matter how little of it there was.
Haha, if it weren’t for them, I would have lived and died with the weapons of Ace, even for that short time. There was a high possibility that I would not know that I was dying was until the day I died. Vincent added quietly.
“If you enjoy something you haven’t tried before, we will find something you want to do. I will stay by your side.”
It was a proposal that felt sincere in its own way, but I was reflecting.
What can I do in the face of a predestined death? As Vincent said, should I live in the South on vacation? Can waiting for death be the best I can do?
It was unfair that I hadn’t lived my life even once just to quietly wait for death in less than a year.
But with or without death in front of me, the only thing I could really do well was exterminate demons. I replied while spinning the glass of beer I hadn’t taken a sip of.
“…. Thanks for the offer, but now I’m not going to the South. It’s too unfair to die yet.”
I murmured.
“I don’t even know what I want to do. I don’t even know what’s in this world. No matter how good the South, it might not be for me… So I think it’s right to try to live a little longer somehow.”
Of course, Vincent seemed to think that my ‘efforts’ were pointless. Instead of Zion, who couldn’t bear to speak, Vincent calmly pointed out the situation.
“But Eloise, the ancient magic circle is already engraved. Unless a miracle happens….”
Miracle…
Vincent was right. The only thing that could save me now was a miracle.
“Right, a miracle.”
I answered slowly.
“I can do miracles.”
And I knew how to make it happen.
It was what Lardin wanted so much, what everyone in Ace had desperately wanted from me.
“If you can’t erase a magic circle that has already been engraved, just undo the fact that it was engraved.”
I smiled and said as if declaring.
“As we have done until now. Let’s look for the Time Stone. Instead, I will use it, not Lardin.”
“…. A Time Sone?”
Vincent stared blankly at me.
“Yes. There is only one sure possibility.”
Lardin has always longed for a time stone that turns time. It seemed that he also had a past that he desperately wanted to change. Now I won’t know his circumstances.
And if that Time Stone can take me to the past, I want…. to go back when I was seven years old.
I would not throw a cleaver at a demon. Whether one arm is cut off or one leg is disabled. I will just run away without using my holy power until the end.
Then there will be no selling me to Ace, no hunting of demons, no time bomb like magic circle engraved in my heart, and no being chased by Johannes Noavik.
I will never live my life being used helplessly in this way.
Vincent forgot to drink beer and nervously pounded on the table. Then he let out a sigh and said worriedly.
“Do you think it’s easy to kill the highest level of demons? It doesn’t show often in the first place, its hard to get rid of, and we don’t know what kind of time stone might fall…”
“Eight years old Johannes Noavik did it.”
I chuckled, aware that I was saying the same thing as Barbara. Vincent frowned and retorted.
“That…. It’s because of the mysterious power of the Noavik family.”
“But I do have a higher hit rate. I also have holy power.”
I grinned and thumped my lungs. And told Vincent.
“I will continue to use this gun. Like you said, the range is long, so it was great. Now I’m going to stay here and hunt demons. The highest level demon only appears near the capital.”
In the end, it meant that I would continue to remain in the capital as I am now, continuing to hunt illegal demons targeting the highest level of demons. And that also meant that the chase with Johannes would continue.
Not as a pitiful weapon belonging to Ace, but as ‘Blue Ruby’ who truly hunts demons according to my will and for my own purposes.
If you’d like to help me survive throughout the day, It’ll be greatly appreciated: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/athanasiafrost
Athanasia Frost 