Chapter 57
“Lirina, Lirina.”
As usual, Lirina had just finished cleaning Aslan’s room when she turned her head at the sound of her name being called.
There stood a maid with a rather sinister grin.
“Someone is looking for you outside.”
Lirina blinked, half-lidded, pondering who could possibly be looking for her.
“It was a cute boy. Who’ve you charmed this time?”
But hearing that, Lirina’s eyes widened in realization.
‘Kraush?’
He had never visited her directly before.
If he was coming to see her, it had to be about the favor she had asked.
‘He said he’d come in a few days…’
Maybe he really used the Balheim family’s influence to find her.
Having lived a long time in Halgam, Lirina couldn’t think of any other explanation for his swift arrival.
‘But Kraush must be rejected by his family to the point where he can barely eat—’
Getting help from his family wasn’t going to be easy for him.
And yet, he readily agreed to help her.
Lirina wiggled her fingers nervously.
Her thoughts wandered a bit too far.
Coughing lightly, she tried to shake them off.
‘It’s the axe illness. The axe illness.’
As if to snap back to reality, she lightly pinched her cheek before asking the maid.
“Where is he?”
“The back alley where the maids often pass through. He’s waiting there.”
“Thank you.”
She tried hard to ignore the maid’s sly smile as she set off for the back alley.
Having passed through the garden, she arrived at the back alley and peeked through the door.
But for some reason, the entrance was completely empty.
Disappointment etched across her face, somehow expecting someone to be there.
“Did I misunderstand something?”
Just as she thought the maid might have given her wrong directions…
“Lirina!”
She turned at the sound of her name and found a boy with dark blue hair standing there.
At that moment, she felt a surge of joy.
“If you stand alone in the path the maids frequent, they might tease you about having a boyfriend.”
Yet her words carried a teasing tone that confused her.
She didn’t understand why she kept making these playful comments.
“The only one teasing here, Lirina, is you.”
He skillfully returned her playful jab.
Every time Lirina saw him, she found it quite remarkable.
She never felt stuck when conversing with him.
Perhaps that’s why they often ended up meeting and talking in the park.
“Then what’s the reason you came looking for me? I hope it’s not something weird…”
“There’s a significant reason for coming directly. It’s about the favor you asked.”
Lirina’s eyes widened slightly.
Of course, Kraush would have gathered information about Dorothy, Aslan’s friend.
“That was quick.”
“You’ve got to repay the meals you ‘borrow’.”
“Really? I was joking, but I didn’t expect you to come so soon.”
Lirina glanced around.
This was not a suitable place for a conversation.
So she gently opened the door to the back alley.
“Let’s go to the inner garden. There’s a nice spot to talk.”
Even though she would likely get scolded by the head maid, sneaking in a friend wouldn’t raise any eyebrows.
With that in mind, Lirina moved quickly, taking Kraush along to the inner garden before anyone noticed them.
It was spring, and flowers and greenery flourished in the garden.
With dusk approaching, a slightly chilly breeze swept past.
Lirina paused, following the wind.
Looking back at Kraush, her eyes conveyed it was okay to speak now.
Kraush noticed that signal and decided to get straight to the point.
“It’s about Miss Dorothy. First off, she wasn’t human.”
“Excuse me?”
In that moment, Lirina stiffened.
A statement she hadn’t expected at all had just slipped out.
“What do you mean?”
Confused and unable to grasp what he meant, Kraush quickly scanned their surroundings.
He wanted to confirm they were alone.
“Do you know about spirits?”
Then Kraush posed a question to her.
The city of Halgam wasn’t far from the Spirit King’s Forest.
However, spirits were not exactly common knowledge for the ordinary townsfolk.
Lirina was no exception.
“When you mention spirits, are you talking about Erosion Types?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
Lirina’s eyes widened in dawning realization.
She understood now why Kraush had mentioned spirits.
“Could it be that Miss Dorothy is…?”
“She’s a spirit.”
“No way.”
Lirina couldn’t accept what Kraush was saying.
To her, Dorothy was clearly human in every way.
There was nothing about her that ever suggested she could be an Erosion Type.
“Did you know that Erosion Types continue to evolve?”
“Erosion Types evolve?”
Lirina was just an ordinary maid.
She had hardly encountered Erosion Types in her life.
Naturally, she wouldn’t know such details.
“Erosion Types evolve consistently. Specifically, world erosion does this. They learn and experience things, then reflect them in the world erosion.”
That’s why it was essential to eliminate them the moment they appeared.
Left unchecked, they could grow uncontrollably strong.
But sometimes, some Erosion Types could become so formidable that they were out of reach.
These were the types that existed long before humans grasped the concept of world erosion.
The prototype of this was Gold Region.
Thus, humans decided to keep areas occupied by Gold Region separate from where they lived.
Rather than allowing them to gain unnecessary learning, they would rather keep them in check.
“Miss Dorothy is a new spirit born from the Spirit King’s Forest. Essentially, she’s the closest spirit to human form.”
She was a spirit that absorbed information from chaotic spirits coexisting with humans, resulting in Dorothy’s creation.
Lirina looked even more bewildered.
Hearing that Aslan’s friend was a spirit was a wholly natural reaction.
“But even so, are you going to look for Miss Dorothy?”
This was clearly not a normal situation.
Especially the fact that a spirit had stuck with Aslan, the direct heir of the Igrit family, would stir up quite a few rumors.
Perhaps it would be better for Aslan if they didn’t search for Dorothy at all.
Lirina was Aslan’s dedicated maid.
Her role was to ensure he received the best support possible.
“Yes.”
But without hesitation, she answered.
“Even if everyone else points fingers, I’m still a maid serving Aslan. Dorothy is essential to the current Aslan.”
Even if this were to lead her to regret in the future.
To Aslan, Dorothy was a necessary existence.
Hearing her resolve, Kraush slowly nodded.
“If that’s the case, there’s one thing I need from you.”
“What is it? I’ll do anything. Should I act like Kraush’s girlfriend? The romance between a maid and a noble is quite the cliché, right?”
Lirina playfully lifted her skirt, acting like a maid taking orders.
“…”
When Kraush stared at her in silence, Lirina coughed lightly.
“I was just trying to lighten the mood because it felt too serious. Please don’t look at me like that.”
With a hint of embarrassment creeping over her, Lirina fanned herself with her hand.
But the reason Kraush couldn’t respond right away was different.
‘…Ugh, as annoying as it is, I find myself relating to you just a bit right now.’
Hearing the same words from the past made him brush his eyebrows for a moment.
It pulled up memories he had tried to avoid.
‘Man, I’m such an idiot.’
They say a man never forgets his first love.
How true that was.
—
Aslan Igrit.
At 15 years old, he finally woke up around dinner time.
With his long red hair and pale skin, complemented by noticeable dark circles, he glanced at the blackout curtains.
Those curtains showed no sign of being opened.
In the past, it would have been a guest sneaking in who would have opened them.
“Aslan, are you still asleep? I came right after my academy classes. You should’ve waited for me.”
Her voice clearly echoed in his mind.
‘Dorothy.’
Every time he realized that fact, Aslan’s expression darkened.
She was the only salvation he had, and now she was gone from this world.
In his thoughts only lay the image of her last smile.
The smile she had given him amidst the flames.
It was in that moment—
Knock, knock
Suddenly, someone knocked from outside the window.
Startled, Aslan turned to the window, bewildered.
His heart raced as he felt the shock.
“Ugh.”
Aslan hastily got off his bed but winced at the pain from his neck.
The pain from where he had choked himself still lingered.
He pressed his hand against his throat, stumbling as he walked.
When he whipped the blackout curtains open, a boy he had never seen before came into view.
With black hair and a crow perched on his shoulder, he appeared quite unusual.
He looked a little younger than himself.
The boy knocked on the window again.
As if pleading to let him in.
With a mix of confusion, Aslan opened the window almost instinctively.
It reminded him of how Dorothy had often knocked on his window.
“You are…?”
“Aslan.”
Under the moonlight spreading across the night sky, the boy called his name.
That strange charm in his blue eyes pulled Aslan’s attention.
“Do you want to bring back Dorothy?”
In that instant, the boy tossed a question at him.
Aslan’s eyes widened in shock, as it was a question he never expected.
The boy not only knew Dorothy’s name but also seemed aware of what had happened to her.
“…I want to.”
Perhaps that was why Aslan answered almost dreamily.
He wanted to bring her back.
That feeling had never changed.
In that moment, the crow perched on the boy’s shoulder spread its wings and took flight.
With fluttering black feathers, the boy smiled brightly beneath it.
“Great! Then let’s make a deal.”
A transaction to resurrect Dorothy, beginning with this peculiar boy.
Hearing the word “deal,” Aslan absentmindedly asked.
“Are you a demon?”
A demon that lures people into deals.
He had heard there were such monsters among the Erosion Types.
Therefore, he unconsciously asked that question, prompting the boy to make a face of disbelief.
“Demon? Please. Demons don’t make deals like this. They’d cut off your limbs and then say, ‘Pay a price and I’ll put them back together.’”
Talk about a bad comparison to demons.
The boy frowned, as if remembering something unpleasant, and that made Aslan also feel a bit deflated.
Then quickly, he rubbed his eyes and gradually opened them.
The hazy look he had moments ago was gone.
In its place was the sharp gaze of Aslan that Kraush knew all too well.
“I’d like to hear more details.”
Kraush smiled at that moment.
He was relieved that this was the Aslan he remembered.
—
Kraush’s past memories before the regression.
Underneath the burning Red Tower.
Aslan bore a look of despair while holding a cigarette in his mouth.
Today he had just finished the funeral for his grandfather, the Flame King.
The Red Tower had burned down due to the war against the Erosionists, which resulted in his grandfather’s death.
But the emotion etched on Aslan’s face was not one of grief.
He had always harbored resentment toward his grandfather.
The problem was that there was nowhere to resolve that bitterness now.
“Kraush.”
From the burning cigarette, Aslan slowly exhaled a cloud of smoke.
“Why do you want to protect this world?”
Despite being calm at all times, it seemed that today, Aslan struggled to maintain that composure as he closed his eyes.
“I don’t know anymore.”
It was the day only 32 days remained until his death.
‘Not knowing.’
Kraush kept walking through the garden as that fleeting memory crossed his mind.
A thin frame, red hair, and skin so pale it seemed translucent, showing the shadows beneath his eyes.
Today was the first time Kraush saw Aslan’s true face.
This was understandable since Kraush’s memories held the image of Aslan swathed in bandages and covered in burn scars, dying.
But Aslan remained unchanged from then to now.
[ Break Aslan’s ‘stubbornness.’ ]
This was the content of the dial that appeared when using Black Hood.
The same content emerged whenever Kraush used Black Hood targeting Aslan’s Erosion Type.
‘What a stubborn blockhead.’
Aslan must have wanted to rid himself of the Erosion Type long ago.
However, it wasn’t something to be done with another’s power.
He was determined to overcome the Erosion Type by his own strength.
What a persistent character he had back then.
But because of that, Kraush acknowledged Aslan.
Because that same stubbornness had led him to burn away the Erosion Type and rise to become the Flame King.
‘But this time it will be different.’
This time, I am here—a presence that didn’t exist back then.
I would save the only one who could break his stubbornness.
After the death of the Flame King, Aslan had wondered what reason there was to protect the world.
Then, he resolved to forcibly instill a reason to live.
‘You have to be my motivation.’
I’d see to it that I made him pay for all the hardships he endured.
“Kraush.”
At that moment, Lirina, who had been waiting at the end of the garden, called out to him.
Her eyes, partially closed, were filled with various thoughts.
On the day Aslan died, she had cried profusely.
Kraush still remembered her tears vividly.
He had held her close during her sorrow.
“Did things go well?”
When Lirina asked, Kraush glanced at Aslan’s mansion.
“Yes, I’ve talked with Aslan. He’s now on board with the plan to resurrect Dorothy.”
Kraush had shared all the details of how to bring Dorothy back to life.
Upon hearing that, Aslan displayed a shocked expression.
“How did you get a clue like that…?”
Aslan had undoubtedly scoured for information on spirits to find a glimmer of hope.
But it was information that even the Igrit family, which governed the Spirit King’s Forest, couldn’t find.
So, of course, Aslan found it hard to believe that Kraush possessed that information.
“Does it really matter how I found out about it?”
Kraush wasn’t inclined to share all the details.
Aslan didn’t dig deeper either.
They were in a transactional relationship.
As long as they could get the deal done, neither of them would have any qualms.
In that aspect, they were quite alike.
Both were willing to do what it takes to achieve their goals.
“I’ll make a deal. Tell me what you want in return.”
Aslan seemed taken aback by Kraush’s interest in the Erosion Type, yet he accepted the deal without hesitation.
He knew this was the only way to bring Dorothy back.
But to finalize that deal, they needed one particular thing beforehand.
And it was something Kraush couldn’t achieve alone.
“And that’s why I would like to ask Lirina for help.”
“Me? Are you looking to me for that?”
Lirina raised her eyebrows and then quickly straightened her posture.
Kraush was the only one who could save Dorothy, Aslan’s precious friend.
She was ready to do anything within her power.
“Anything, just say the word. I’d even play the role of your girlfriend if necessary. Isn’t the romance between a maid and a noble cliché yet romantic?”
Lirina jestingly lifted her skirt while mimicking a maid that would follow orders.
“…”
As Kraush remained silent, Lirina cleared her throat.
“It felt too serious, so I thought I’d lighten the mood. Please don’t give me that look.”
Feeling a bit even more embarrassed, Lirina waved her hand in front of her face.
Yet the reason Kraush hesitated to respond wasn’t simply that.
‘…Argh, as annoying as it is, I find myself relating to you just a bit right now.’
Hearing echoes of the past made him momentarily smooth his eyebrows.
He was reminded of fond memories he had wished to forget.
‘Man, I’m such an idiot.’
They say a man never forgets his first love.
How true that sentiment proved to be.
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