Chapter 99: - Sun - Claiomh Solais (7)

༺ Sun – Claiomh Solais (7) ༻

“...They’re not coming.”

“Like, what is going on...?”

The druids of Findias did not know that the two girls stuck in their illusions were a part of Korin’s group. That was why they had laid them down at one of the city’s halls, thinking that they would wake up sometime soon.

“Korin. Any later than this and there will be no advantage to our previous lead.”

“Sister, but...”

“No, Miss Lunia is right. If we wait any longer than this, our advantage over Scaith’s group will turn meaningless.”

In the end, Korin decided to start climbing the oak tree.

“Let’s go!”

Korin, Alicia, Lunia and Yuel.Updated chapters at novelhall.com

The four of them started climbing the enormous oak tree.

Meanwhile, Scaith and Dumnorix were glaring at them with a sharp look in their eyes.

****

Marie silently watched over the two happy people.

Guests congratulated them; the choir sang songs and the priest blessed their future. Everyone in the chapel was happy except for Marie.

1 year went by.

Hua Ran gave birth to a child. Watching the two of them buy baby clothes together, Marie unknowingly bit her lower lips, not knowing that her lips were turning red with blood.

Another year went by.

The child turned 1 year old. Seeing the baby toddle forward reminded her of Korin.

Another year went by.

She saw Korin preparing an event for the wedding anniversary. He didn’t prepare much, but it still allowed her to see just how considerate he was.

If only she was the one instead...

Another year went by.

“...I wish you all the best, Korin.”

She decided to accept it.

Marie decided to wish the best for her loved one. It seemed that they weren’t meant to be – they weren’t lovers, and it was already too late for her to do anything.

That was why she chose to bless them.

For their happiness.

Another year went by.

“Here you go, Hua Ran. A birthday present...!”

She became friends.

Hiding her inner turmoil and as a senior and a friend, she congratulated them on several anniversaries and went out together. However, she couldn’t stop her eyes from going to the husband of her junior.

No, no no.

She had to hope for their happiness.

She had to wish for their best.

Another year went by.

“Korin. Isn’t that... the same clothes as last year?”

“Yeah. Well, they are expensive, right?”

Marie said while glancing at the suit with obsidian buttons. That was the same suit he wore in the wedding ceremony that was being worn again and again.

Although the two of them were happy, they were leading a very poor and impoverished life. Even the baby’s nanny was from a humble background with nothing special.

Even those meals, clothes, houses, and land...

‘If it was me...’ she thought to herself, thinking about all the things she would have done for him.

Another year went by, followed by another year.

Time flew like an arrow.

.........

......

...

Marie still couldn’t accept it. Looking at the family, her eyes gleamed with unsightly jealousy and greed.

I liked him first. I met him first.

I can give him more things.

Land, mines, treasures, status, everything.

He doesn’t need to do anything. All he needs to do is wait at my home and smile at me when I’m back.

That was all he needed to do.

As long as he could do that,

If only he did that for me, I would have given my everything...

‘Ah, I see’. That was when she realized it.

She realized that she could never accept this defeat.

Marie admitted the terrible and evil emotion inside her.

That was also when she noticed that her first love hadn’t failed. It was just that it hadn’t succeeded just yet.

In that case, all she had to do was make it succeed.

The world might tell her she was too late; that it was her loss and that she had to acknowledge her defeat but Marie did not care about any of that.

All she needed to do was change it to the reality she wanted it to be.

Defeat was not an option. That was the road she chose.

Tricks, strategies, wealth, and authority.

Marie thought about all the means she had under her belt, but it was destined to turn into a horrible and long battle if she were to use everything she had in her kit.

Would Korin hate it though? Would he start hating me?

That was the only thing she couldn’t allow; his opinion of her was the thing that mattered the most to her.

Her tricks and strategies had to be carried out in secret, and she had to use her power and wealth behind his back.

She considered all of her options and that was when she noticed the wrinkles near Korin’s lips.

“Ah...”

Seeing his grown-up child who was now old enough to enter the Academy, Marie recalled that Korin Lork was just a normal human.

As a vampire, it was possible for her to live forever as long as she had enough blood. Vampires in general could live almost forever except for the fact that they had to be away from sunlight but Marie was at the level of a Vampire Elder who had even overcome sunlight with her innate talents.

Compared to that, Korin was just a normal human who would live 100 years at max. His life was destined to come to an end one day.

Right, that was a good approach. Why didn’t she think about that till now?

His first is also mine.

.........

......

...

The next morning, Hua Ran gave a benevolent smile while looking at the little baby in her arms.

After all, it was common sense that a stork would deliver a baby when a pair of male and female laid down on the bed and spent the night with their fingers locked.

****

By utter coincidence, or perhaps because of a prank of a god, or even fate, the two girls woke up at the same time.

“......”

“......”

Marie and Hua Ran blankly looked at each other on top of the beds placed by the druids. Their cheeks blushed in red as they then realized what they had been doing until now.

“......”

“......”

Everything was so silent that even the crawling noise of a worm would echo inside the room. In the midst of that silence, the two girls silently shared a knowing gaze and nodded at each other.

Let’s forget it.

Let’s forget everything that just happened.

The two of them immediately realized that they had just experienced the most embarrassing moment of their life which only they were aware of.

“...Looks like you woke up.”

However, there was another person in the room.

“You...”

“W, who might you be?”

“I am Uzkias, the guardian of this place, Findias. Uhh... Kuhum!”

He was about to give some advice as an adult that something like that was no good no matter how strong of a conviction they had but... he soon decided to gloss over their embarrassing memories because if the two girls started a rampage out of embarrassment... Findias might be reduced to rubble.

“If you are here to see Korin Lork, you were a little late.”

“What do you... mean?”

“They have already started climbing the tree to reach the sky. That was 3 days ago.”

“...”

“W, we were late, huh.”

Marie was in the middle of wondering whether they would be able to make it in time even if they started chasing after him now, but that was when she tilted her head after noticing something.

“How did you know we were here to see Korin?”

“...”

Uzkias was not inconsiderate enough to tell the two girls that he had taken a glimpse into their illusions and had seen how the cause of their shady, treacherous and extreme decisions had been the same boy.

“... I heard from Korin Lork and was waiting for you to arrive.”

He decided to forget the embarrassing memories of the two girls... or rather the three girls and live on without questioning it.

“Tch tch. What has the world come to. Kuhum...!”

****

Climbing a mountain wasn’t easy, especially when climbing an unfrequented mountain with no roads.

So how hard would climbing a tree be?

How would you climb up the steep slope of a trunk? Normally, the idea of climbing a tree all the way to the sky would sound very ridiculous and impossible.

“Thank you for your kind help, spirits.”

Climbing the tree was actually not as hard as one would expect. Thanks to the help of the spirits guiding the way for Yuel and the oak tree twisting its own body to create a path with its branches, we were able to climb up an endless spiral staircase and reach the pinnacle where we were just below the clouds in just 3 days.

“We are still not there, it seems.”

“But looking at the speed, I think we should be there in another 20 or 30 minutes,” I replied.

“Ugh... It’s very cold.”

We were right beneath the clouds so we were probably about 8 kilometers aboveground, and it was thus very normal for her to be cold. I took off one of the coats I was wearing and threw it over Alicia.

“We’ll be there in a bit. Hold on just a little bit more.”

“Aht... t, thank you.”

“Korin. By the way, do you know what it is that’s on top of the clouds?”

I was in the middle of carving rune letters onto the tree with my spear when Yuel asked a question. Even though she was a druid, she was still young and had been living elsewhere so she didn’t seem very familiar with the secrets of Findias.

“All the tests and trials we went through were for us to reach the sky. It sounds straightforward but ambiguous at the same time.”

‘Reach the sky’.

Then what? Is it really possible to just pick up the Sun with your hands?

That might be the case if we were talking about a mythological story but this was different; we were talking about real life. Considering the distance between the planet and the sun, it was impossible to reach the Sun just by climbing up to the clouds.

“Claiomh Solais is referred to as the Sun of Findias. You know that, right?”

“I heard in fairy tales that it was one of the treasures of the old gods.”

“The 4 great treasures of the Dananns do exist.”

The 4 great treasures that would have all ended up in the hands of Tates Valtazar were as follows:

The Magic of Murias, the Cauldron of Dagda.

Destiny Stone of Falias, Lia Fail.

Spear of Light of Gorias, Areadbhair.

And lastly, the Sword of Light, also known as the Sword of the Sun, Claiomh Solais of Findias.

Back in the original plot of the game when chasing after the final boss, Tates Valtazar, and his subordinates, the player would visit Gorias and Murias where all the treasures had already been taken out of.

But by going through the puzzles and solving the hidden pieces of information, it was possible to figure out where the treasures had been sealed.

The magic cauldron of Murias was sealed deep underground, in a dark and bottomless pit filled with slithering snakes, whereas the Spear of Light was recorded to show itself along with the emission of light that came from the successful analysis of an old mechanical device, hidden deep inside a cave.

Those were just slabs of text that players would normally skim through during the game, but judging based on those points, it was possible to assume that the legends of Claiomh Solais were slightly exaggerated, and that it was within reach.

“Anyway, it’s normal for treasures to hide in secret lands, whether it be underground, aboveground... or even above the clouds.”

Soon, the oak tree soared through the clouds. Following the branches, we walked up to the world above the clouds and...

“Wahh...”

In front of us was a floating island.

This was the true secret land of Findias, hiding in the clouds.

“Attention customers. We are about to reach our final destination, the floating island of Findias. The weather is looking very fine today but unfortunately, the natives of this land will be very hostile to us.”

It was a large rocky island. Jumping off of the oak tree that was touching the island, I continued while giving a deep gentleman bow.

“We do not have any visas, so it is time for us to smuggle inside.”

On the large island of rocks was a castle of giants.