Chapter 104

Chapter 104

“Judging by your expression, you look like you have a lot going on.”

Jonathan asked as he took a pot in front of Andra, who was dazed from the early breakfast. Andra looked up and tried to smile at Jonathan.

“I can’t sleep. This is the first time this has happened.”

“That goes for me too. I couldn’t sleep either yesterday. More than that though, did you leave the camp last night?”

At the question, Andra almost choked on her food. She thought she moved without anyone noticing. She’s inexperienced, but she even hid herself with magic!

Andra pretended to be as laid-back as she could and let out an awkward laugh at Jonathan.

“Last night? No. I only remember going in early after dinner and taking a break. But why are you suddenly asking such a question…?”

Unknowingly, her hand holding the glass of water gets tenser. Jonathan answered with a passing tone, picking up a piece of bread on the side table and smearing it with jam.

“I had a conversation with my Sister last night, and I thought I saw you on the way back, Anna. I guess it wasn’t you. I must have seen it wrong.”

“Ah, is that so? That’s strange. I never went out.”

“Yes, don’t go out at night. If you need anything, I will always attend to you. I’ve told the soldiers, so it’s better not to move alone wherever you go.”

Because you don’t know what will happen. Jonathan said affectionately as he bit into the jam-covered bread. There was no doubt in that tone, and Andra let out a sigh of relief inside. Thank God. Because Jonathan doesn’t doubt her. Andra put down the glass of water and nodded.

“But don’t worry too much. Even if I look like this, I’m an Awakened. I can protect myself.”

“Ah, that’s right. I often forget that you’re an Awakened. But still, you shouldn’t. You have to be careful. You’re my precious person, Anna.”

“I will be careful not to cause trouble.”

“What trouble. I think the schedule will be a little tighter than that. I heard things went a little wrong with Morgennis. We’ll be leaving right after breakfast, so get ready.”

Said Jonathan, eating the last bite of his bread.

After taking a sip of juice, he stood up. It seemed that Jonathan’s visit to Andra was to give her a brief reminder of the schedule. Of course, their barracks were less than five minutes apart.

“If you have any problems or concerns, tell me right away. There are so many things I feel like I’m missing out on with you, Anna.”

“Yes I will. Thank you for your concern.”

“It’s nothing. It’s natural, between us.”

Jonathan smiled lightly as he tucked Andra’s disheveled hair behind her ears. After that he waved his hand and said he would see her later and disappeared towards his barracks.

Andra stood there until Jonathan was completely out of sight before returning to her seat. She even let out a small sigh. She kept thinking about the conversation she had with Dustin last night.

‘Even if the magic is broken, you’ll prove that you like me?’

Did he really mean it? Even now, wasn’t he still thinking about anything because of magic? She still couldn’t believe Dustin’s words. It made no sense to believe him in the first place.

But why did she keep getting annoyed with Dustin, who answered with a wounded face and said he would prove it?

‘Ah… I really don’t know.’

Andra fidgeted with her fingertips, lost in thought in the same seat until her mealtime was over.

Their march began again. Andra sat in the carriage and she gazed at the scroll as she interpreted it. There were a few things that bothered her. If the task itself was an ordeal from Nera, it’s understandable why she and Dustin were under the spell, but she had a hard time understanding the spell itself.

‘Out of so many things, why is sex supposed to be the medium of magic?’

Was it because of the relationship between Anat and Dean? To make them look like the two who were caught in Basham’s prank and got connected through it? Then, could she and Dustin assume the role of Anat and Dean? But why, at all, in this way? If Anat and Dean are being punished by the primordial god, weren’t they supposed to be punished, not her and Dustin?

‘Anat and Dean are me and Dustin’s previous lives, something like that?’

Of course, the previous life hypothesis didn’t make sense at all, but there were a few awkward aspects to say it was correct.

Anat, the god of wisdom and ideals, was said to have fallen asleep somewhere in the Mezei Mountains. And Dean was punished and buried somewhere. Did this mean he’s simply dead? However, she thought there was no way that the primordial god simply killed them.

Death was the simplest punishment. The pain experienced while alive could be called punishment. For example, in all tales and myths, no punishment that’d appear would end up in death. Because when they die, everything’s over.

‘The philosopher, Belleus, said that death is the greatest gift to sinners. Because it relieves them of pain. His contemporary, Mielda, also said that death is the beginning and the end. It was said that the only thing that can break the current bondage is death.’

With a sudden thought, Andra put down the interpretation, took a few books that Professor Velott had prepared among the books on the carriage. The book was a compilation of articles that Professor Velott had researched and written about ancient ruins in her first year of teaching.

Before entering the academy, Andra read the book with a deep impression because it contained a story about Odid, one of the few relics of the Age of Sorcery.

Odid was a high mountain area located in the northeastern part of the continent, and most of the ruins proving that there was an Age of Sorcery were concentrated there. Of course, apart from that, it was also a historical site that remains a mystery because it’s difficult to interpret.

In her youth, Professor Velott stayed there for half a year and published her research in a book. It was mainly about the funeral customs of the ancients, Hezel, but it was because only that part of the data could be interpreted. Data that was still difficult to interpret lay quietly asleep in her lab.

Andra hurriedly unfolded the funerary customs part, the longest part of the Odid report. There, it was written that the ancients who lived in Odid believed that immortality was possible, and that in case of death due to unavoidable circumstances, there was also an afterlife. That is why they mainly performed aerial sepulture in designated places, and later collected only the remaining bones and collected them in one place.

Of course, these funeral customs could be seen in other regions, but what’s unique about the funeral customs of Odid was that there were no deaths due to disease or natural aging in the records.

Funerals for humans were usually killed in conflict with each other, attacked by beasts, or accidentally ingested natural poisons. No one died of old age or disease anywhere. That’s why the ancients believed that eternal life was possible. They wouldn’t die no matter what.

‘Hezel, the Magic Kingdom, was the most advanced civilization in the world. They really could never have died of disease or aging. Magic would have made that possible.’

Andra read more of the book. It was also written that there were many ancient people who took their own lives. It must be because they must be numb to death as Hezel was a utopia. Magic enriched their lives, and Anat’s wisdom and Dean’s rule made Hezel itself peaceful. In that peace, people enjoyed eternal life.

The Magic Kingdom had only existed for sixty years, but it would have been enough to feel bored if the same day continued without any incident. Maybe the concept of time now and the concept of time at that time were different. Very little was known about Hezel thus far.

‘Maybe the magic slowed down time. That’s why people grew old slowly, and death was far away. Above all, it was Anat and Dean who built Hezel. Hezel is supposed to follow their values.’

The important point here was that Anat was the god of wisdom and ideals. She used her wisdom to embody the ideal life of humans. A life without pain and sorrow. A happy and peaceful day for everyone. Thanks to that, death must have felt like an end and a true end to them.

And there was no way that the primordial god didn’t know that. Therefore, there was no way that the primordial god would have given a punishment equivalent to death.

‘I don’t know about Anat, but the primordial god would never have let Dean die. There’s a good chance that Dean is still alive somewhere.’

Andra put down the book and listened to the interpreted version this time.

Red and darkness mixed, and the wrath of the First God descended. A great roar poured out, and the sky and the earth shook indiscriminately. The crown of gold, piled high, will fall, and everyone shall cry out. In the midst, the fool walks the foolish path.

Wisdom creates tears, and ideals create pain. The sun sets, darkness rises. Wings melt and fall— Doom.

The fool, be buried. Then, tears and pain cover the fool. The nine gods make a bridle. Darkness is swallowed up and the sun rises.

The world is in chaos. Crown of gold, splendid power, close your eyes. Opening your eyes will be possible only in the eighth task. So where the sun sets, the Dragon Mountains that intersect the two worlds, the gods fall asleep at the end of the world.

Dean made the primordial god very angry. So, that anger must have been poured out on Dean and the rest of the humans who were like him. It was for the humans that Anat betrayed her mother.

That’s why Hezel, the Magic Kingdom, collapsed without any trace in a short time. Because the punishment given by the primordial god was to deprive humans of utopia. The primordial god couldn’t have been able to bear seeing the utopia made with her daughter’s wisdom and ideals any longer.

‘Then, the primordial god punished Dean very severely, but Anat protected him. But in the end, it wouldn’t have prevented Dean from being punished. He couldn’t have disobeyed the will of the primordial god any longer.’

Darkness is swallowed up and the sun rises. Andra could tell that this was right after Dean was punished. Darkness was one of the children of the primordial god, and the sun was the primordial god.

‘In the end, Dean was punished and humans lost their utopia. but… Opening the eyes will be possible only in the eighth task. This part is the most confusing. Does Nera’s ordeal have to be overcome before the brilliant civilization can start again? And Dean is no longer punished?’

Andra put down the interpreted copy and cradled her throbbing head. There was not much material left, so interpretation was not sufficient. She really thought she would have to go to Morgennis and go into the Mezei Mountains to find out.

She sighed heavily and was about to organize the books and papers when the carriage suddenly stopped.

What’s going on? They’re not scheduled to take a rest here. Andra looked out of the window with puzzled eyes.

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