Judas quietly observed the old man’s face, Angra.
“Looks familiar…
This shabby appearance too.
And the fact he’s a pilgrim.”
‘A long time ago… he was someone who pulled me out of Judeca, but aside from that….’
A tickling sensation, just on the edge of memory.
Finally, it clicked.
I’m not entirely sure, but…
‘…Ah. Could it be? That pilgrim from back then?’
I remembered seeing a pilgrim.
In a village near the front line, when I went to help Yurideke.
But I never saw the pilgrim’s face.
The voice was similar, but it’s been five years, so who knows.
‘Hmm… maybe it’s not.’
His presence and the feeling when we met were different.
Five years ago, Judas felt a strange pressure from that pilgrim.
Just hearing his voice made him feel unnerved.
It wasn’t just because he was young at the time.
But this pilgrim didn’t have any such aura at all.
He looked plain, straightforward, and only appeared to be a pure religious person.
‘Am I confused? Of course, it wouldn’t be strange if I’m familiar with this person.’
Since there was a connection with Judas, it might be an effect lingering in his memory.
He couldn’t understand why looking at Angra reminded him of the Underground residence of the Dark Wizard and the restraints.
Judas tilted his head briefly and continued rummaging through his pockets.
“I don’t have any suspicious items.”
In the end, he couldn’t retrieve the memory.
The familiarity with this person.
And the fact that he didn’t know this person at all.
It was contradictory, but neither was wrong.
He was someone from Judas’s memory, yet he himself was someone who had entered Judas.
The strange thing was different.
It seemed Angra didn’t recognize him at all.
Was it because he had grown?
Eliya also focused on the same point as Judas.
‘…Why doesn’t he recognize me?’
Even if he’s grown, Judas was the one Angra personally brought along.
Besides, Judas was still Judas.
His childhood appearance remained.
Overall, he had grown broader and taller, yet his features were still sharp and distinct, enough to attract attention from other women.
It was a complicated feeling, both dissatisfaction and a reluctant enjoyment of his own masculinity and wildness, but still traces of his childhood look remained.
It wasn’t just that he didn’t recognize him.
He acted completely as if he were a stranger.
Eliya decided to confirm directly.
“Angra, don’t you recognize this man?”
“Should I know… him?”
“He’s a man named Judas. Does that ring a bell?”
“Judas…? I absolutely…”
It wasn’t a mere act.
Such a reaction could never come from acting.
He had observed and studied many humans for years.
Deceiving his own eyes was nearly impossible.
From Angra’s reaction, Judas felt discomfort.
Could he truly not know this much?
“Do you know who I am?”
“I’m sorry, all I know is that you are a noble lady…”
“Then what about Balak and Johan?”
Angra answered readily, even while wondering about the intent behind the question.
Eliya’s aura was particularly striking.
Calm yet cold, piercingly sharp atmosphere.
“They are the king of Bevel Principality and the emperor of Helios Empire.”
“Has either of them, or someone representing them, ever come looking for you?”
“Y-Yes…? What do you mean…?”
“Have you ever received an order to kill someone named Eliya?”
“Ah, Lady?”
The one who startled was Judas.
Eliya didn’t look back.
She was fixated on observing Angra’s expression.
Shock, bewilderment, and intrigue painted his face one after another.
Then, he frowned and said,
“I must apologize, but I truly cannot fathom what the lady intends to say…”
Eliya was certain.
‘Someone has tampered with his memory.’
There exist magics that manipulate or erase memories.
Of course, they are forbidden spells.
He must have utilized Dark Magic to recreate it.
In the data taken this time, there would likely be magic related to it.
‘Angra, a central figure in Molsin Church, needed to erase his memory.’
In other words, it meant that Angra was an important figure to the extent that someone had to meddle with his memory.
‘This means someone has inherited that role….’
The fact that the Pope, Nadab, had taken on Angra’s role was information Eliya currently did not possess.
‘Hmm… What should I do now?’
Just when she thought she was reaching a clue, it slipped away again.
‘There are spells to glimpse or restore others’ memories. I probably can’t access them due to the prohibition, but… should I consider this fortunate? Among the materials I brought, there was indeed such Dark Magic….’
However, Eliya didn’t want to wield Dark Magic.
Dark Magic itself was an unsettling subject.
‘Is there a way to reconstruct Dark Magic back into regular magic? There’s just too much to figure out alone. For now… should I go to the Magic Tower’s master?’
Judas asked her as she pondered.
“Lady, what do you mean by assassination?”
“About that… I’ll explain later.”
Eliya organized the situation.
“For now, you need to come with us.”
“What… does that mean?!”
Angra had no time to resist.
Eliya used teleportation.
*
The three arrived at the Underground Prison of Eliya’s Mansion.
The guard inside the prison was taken aback.
“Ah, Lady?!”
“Lock this person up. Bind him so he can’t escape.”
“What is this! The heavens are watching this…”
Eliya ignored the outcry.
“Where’s the captured wizard?”
“He just regained consciousness. However, he’s trembling uncontrollably. No matter what questions I ask, he can’t respond.”
The reason he was trembling was simple.
Overnight, he had gone from a powerful wizard to a commoner, and that’s bound to have an effect.
Eliya nodded nonchalantly.
“Report back when he regains enough sanity to speak. Don’t treat him too harshly.”
Eliya gave quick instructions.
Then she turned to Judas and said,
“We need to talk.”
*
Eliya and Judas stepped into the garden.
The garden was filled with Anemones.
This year, the buds were blooming beautifully.
The red hue gradually filled the garden’s scenery.
When it warms up, they will burst open, swaying like red waves.
Just remembering that beautiful sight lightened Eliya’s heart.
In the center of the garden, a fountain trickled water.
It was still early spring, occasionally chilly due to winter not having completely passed.
Eliya stood in front of the fountain.
As she fiddled with her red scarf, she turned around.
She faced Judas.
“Judas.”
“Yes, Lady.”
Eliya wanted to confirm something again.
“You are on my side, right?”
The guard knight and the master.
A master-servant relationship.
Though they’d been together since childhood, it ultimately tied them in a contract.
Judas dedicated himself to protect Eliya.
That was his job and profession.
So of course, Judas was on Eliya’s side.
Yet, there was a different resonance in that question.
It was even a similar theme to their earlier conversation.
Eliya whimsically wanted him to embrace her and declare allegiance like a spoiled child.
The need to reconfirm something known was due to a necessity.
However,
It was particularly Eliya asking.
Though he could read emotions well, he couldn’t feel them himself.
Not just because of his temperament.
In childhood, Eliya nearly faced a terrible fate from someone named Sardis.
The shock from that day could have turned into a trauma, resulting in her being unable to feel emotions or unconsciously rejecting intimacy.
Judas understood and accepted Eliya’s circumstances.
Thus he dismissed the resonance he felt as mere mood.
He believed himself to be someone who could empathize and feel emotions.
So, of course, the answer was obvious.
“As I said earlier, I am on your side, Lady.”
“…Right.”
Eliya nodded silently.
Trying to hide the relief she felt for some reason.
“Someone is trying to assassinate me. This has probably been in the works since at least five years ago. The foundation for it likely started even before that.”
Judas listened quietly.
“I tracked down the Dark Wizard this time, and that’s the conclusion I reached based on the data I obtained. Do you know how I’m referred to in the world?”
“You are called the reincarnation of the myth age.”
“That’s right. A wizard who might end the long war with the Demon Race. That means it could upend the power balance among humans. So there are those trying to eliminate me. If they simply try to kill me, the repercussions would be massive, so it’s a very intricate and detailed operation.”
Eliya looked up at Judas.
She smiled brightly.
As she usually did.
An doll-like smile.
An unnatural beauty.
Radiating among the unbloomed red buds.
“Emperor Johan and Duke Bevel. They are trying to kill me through Molsin Church.”
“……”
“The data is too vast for me to explain everything, but that’s what I’ve inferred and discovered. And, naturally, I have no intention of just dying.”
“I understand.”
“So I’m collecting data related to that and will present witnesses to expose it to the world. I will oppose and bring down both the Empire and Bevel Principality. Public sentiment will plummet, and chaos will ensue.”
Eliya stepped forward.
Taking a bold step.
Her delicate shoe’s tip met Judas’s shoe tip.
A distance just shy of contact.
“Still, are you on my side?”
The second confirmation.
A war could break out, and Judas might get hurt in the process.
Terrible things could happen.
Knowing all that, she asked if he was on her side.
Judas felt a new emotion upon Eliya revealing her situation to him.
He remembered the Eliya he knew before the possession.
An arsonist and a murderer.
Such characteristics could not be seen in her now.
Even her basic expressions were different.
And over the five years they had spent together, he began to understand, however vaguely, why Eliya had grown into such a person.
‘How her facial scar came to be, I don’t know….’
Furthermore, Eliya had shared her circumstances with him.
How many enemies lurked around her.
Who they were and what she planned to do.
That meant she trusted him to some extent.
Which was not saying much, but still.
Judas recalled the two tragedies he once saw.
Two tragedies.
Eliya, throttling him.
Eliya, hurling fireballs at him.
And he himself collapsing from severe injuries.
That was Eliya’s comedy.
Believing he could avoid it, Judas answered.
“Of course.”
Eliya’s smile brightened.
With each response, a sense of relief weighed less on her heart.
That was why she kept on confirming.
Though she knew the answer, hearing it firsthand felt different.
In the very unlikely event that Judas might become her enemy.
There was abundant ground to deny it, yet she still wanted to hear it in his voice.
She wanted to confirm it.
Just like a child seeking a parent’s affection. Yet, Eliya decided to pretend she didn’t notice.
“There’s much to do, but first, let’s go to the Magic Tower. I need to delve into Angra’s and the Dark Wizard’s memories, but mind-affecting magic is forbidden. Yet, this time, I found some Dark Magic that resembles it among the materials I brought.”
Judas flinched in surprise.
Was that even possible? Secondly, the very thought was extraordinary.
Dark Magic mimics magic.
They achieve anything by sacrificing lives.
Eliya can’t approach forbidden magic.
She cannot use Dark Magic.
So, she reverses a Dark Magic’s utilization.
A magic that mimics Dark Magic recreated back into regular magic.
It was an extraordinary realm that Judas couldn’t even imagine.
Eliya concealed another motive.
She wished to help restore Judas’s memory.
Making a promise she couldn’t guarantee was a reckless move.
Moreover, Judas might not even want it.
Peeking into someone else’s memories wasn’t something particularly desirable.
If someone were to pry into his memories, he’d undoubtedly be displeased….
‘…….’
Eliya cut off her thoughts.
Her mind stepped back a little.
Was she just now placing herself in the same position as Judas?
Identifying herself with another.
The first threshold leading into empathy.
For someone clumsy like Eliya, that occurrence felt unfamiliar just now.
‘Not… sure about this.’
Eliya dismissed unnecessary thoughts.
“Let’s go to the Magic Tower now.”
Eliya took Judas’s hand.
Judas didn’t shake it off.
He believed he had evaded tragedy.
He trusted he could avoid it.
Yet sometimes, he thought that maybe one day she would kill him.
Even while thinking so, he couldn’t help but hold that small, warm hand.
*
Researching to reconstruct Dark Magic.
She sought assistance from the tower’s master.
When Eliya made her proposal, the master agreed with one condition.
Upon hearing that request, Eliya wondered if she could burn down the entire Magic Tower.
“Don’t misunderstand. About the guard knight you brought, would it be okay if I touch him just once?”
“…….”
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