CH 79

Unanimous

Rattling, rattling. The wagon ran along the mountain path. Kyrie opened the cover over the carriage window and looked outside. The sea was not visible. Rather, the wagon was heading further inland.

“It won’t melt naturally, will it?”

The man sitting across from Kyrie talked to her. It was a very fat foreign gentleman with a brown mustache and gray eyes. No, he was more of a scholar than a gentleman.

“The ice wall.”

He patted his mustache and said again.

“It’s the power of the Legendary Lord, isn’t it? I’d like to see him in person.”

His words sounded very cute because there was an excessive ‘ㅇ’ pronunciation at the end. Towards Kyrie, who still hasn’t answered, the man smiled, pulling his mustache short on both sides, like pulling a bow tie.

(TL/N: in hangul ‘ㅇ’ has no sound but if u add any vowel to it, it will have a ‘ng’ sound. So the author is perhaps trying to say that the person speaks with an ‘ng’ sound at the end.)

“Don’t worry too much. I’ve heard from Dr. Hartwood. With me, I told you, didn’t I? Please call me Dr. Poe. Anyway, Epo and other researchers who know the situation will help.”

Dr. Poe was talkative. After learning that Kyrie couldn’t speak, he diligently moved his mouth as if he couldn’t tolerate even a little silence.

“I’m glad we arrived early. I’d say it’s a miracle that we could meet.”

“…….”

“You know, Aldrelm is a city of scholars who study the end of the world. That is, they are not interested in others, so rest assured, my lady.”

Kyrie avoided eye contact without saying a word.

The carriage was headed for Aldrelm. It’s the west side of the continent. It is also a place where scholars who study the end gather. She couldn’t have wanted to go to such a place, but there was no other way. 

As soon as Kyrie came out of the secret passage underground, there was an ice wall that soared high in the sky. There was no way to get past it, and the search party gradually narrowed the siege. It was truly a miracle to be able to meet Dr. Poe, whom Zhenya Hartwood said had sent.

She thought Nathaniel might be the sender, but the idea quickly went out of her mind. Nathaniel wouldn’t have touched what Cesar was doing, so he wouldn’t have touched what Zhenya was doing. Moreover, he was very careful not to let Kyrie’s name be known to the provinces.

“Have you ever been to Aldrelm?”

Kyrie blinked slowly because it was not polite not to react at all. Fortunately, Dr. Poe was a person who understood that kind of gesture.

“You’re Dr. Zhenya Hartwood’s daughter. Have you heard about her research?”

Kyrie shook his head slightly. He looked disappointed for a moment, but soon snapped his mustache twice and grinned.

“I wish I had time to introduce you. Dr. Hartwood is the best in this field.”

At that time, Dr. Poe’s voice was occluded by the sound of another wagon approaching. It was the murmur of the people. Kyrie grabbed the veil without realizing it.

“Oh, we’ve arrived in Aldrelm.”

Dr. Poe slightly lifted the window cover. She could see a  city full of low buildings. The wagon stopped at the back door of a huge sand-colored building outside Aldrelm. It seemed that a monastery was being improved and used. Dr. Poe got off the wagon first, and then winked with his hand out.

“I don’t have a title, but I’m a noble man. Not as high as Buchanan though.”

Kyrie, who got off the wagon, looked around nervously, holding Dr. Poe’s chubby hands. Dr. Poe smiled and led her inside.

When she entered the building, she found an atrium overrun with scholars. It meant everything was incredibly messy. Just then, a man walked across from her. He was a young man with shaggy green hair and his face was full of freckles. A weak smell of alcohol came as he approached.

“Dr. Poe?”

“Ho, Jerome! That’s great.”

Kyrie quickly hid behind Dr. Poe. A young man named Jerome blinked.

“Is that a guest?”

“Yes, Jerome. She’s Dr. Hartwood’s daughter.”

“Then Buchanan’s…”

“Right, Dr. Hartwood asked us to keep it a secret, so you’ll keep it a secret, won’t you?”

“Of course. Hehe…”

“Come on, miss? Show me your face. Jerome was originally a stable keeper in the lower village, but we hired him as a servant. He’ll help you from now on. Since there are no female servants in this building, I’ll ask for your understanding.”

Kyrie sighed softly. She walked slowly out of Dr. Poe’s back as she brought down the veil. Jerome opened his eyes like a man who was shot in the heart.

“Wow…?”

Kyrie quickly covered her face again. Dr. Poe clapped his hands twice.

“Now, now, have you seen the face, Jerome? Jerome will serve you from now on. But you’d better not drink during the day, Jerome. If Gerald scolds me again…”

“I’ll try. I have to try.”

“All right, all right, all right! Jerome, she can’t talk because of the psychological shock, so let me give you a pen and paper…”

Dr. Poe began to chat and moved on. Meanwhile Jerome’s eyes did not fall off Kyrie. Kyrie walked, trying to ignore the blatant gaze.

Her room was assigned to the highest point of the tower, which connected the monastery’s main building and the cloud bridge.

“It’s a little old, but there’s everything that’s needed.…. No one uses this room. If you need anything, you can ask Jerome.”

Kyrie looked around the room, which wasn’t very spacious. One bed, one window, one desk and one closet.

Jerome handed her a pen and paper. Kyrie scrawled the handwriting right away.

「How much do you know about the Legendary Lord?」

Dr. Poe was surprised with a chubby cheek when the story of Legendary Lord came out before the request related to her life.

“You are indeed Dr. Hartwood’s daughter! In fact, we don’t know much..”

「Didn’t my mother tell you anything else?」

“When it comes to the lady, all I’ve heard was to take you to Aldrelm. So why don’t you follow her plan first?”

Kyrie’s pen stopped. She didn’t understand it at all. There must have been a reason if Jenya even made her do it on purpose. As Kyrie’s expression subsided, Dr. Poe fidgeted and tugged at his beard.

“Lady? Don’t worry too much. Relax for now. There you go! Would you like to take a look at our research?”

「Can you show it to others?」

Dr. Poe looked disappointed.

“Are we still others?”

He quickly reached out to Kyrie while she agonized over his answer. Kyrie held the doctor’s hand reflexively.

“Shall we go?”

Dr. Poe led Kyrie without a second thought.

Dr. Poe guided her to a large auditorium. The walls were full of maps, memos written in Algiers (Al-Ise or Algaise), Tilka idioms, and unidentified murals. The floor was faster to find parts that were not covered with paper.

“Come on, come on, come on in! Come on in!”

Dr. Poe spoke in a highly excited tone, then leaped into the room. Looking around carefully, Kyrie suddenly found a painting hanging on the wall.

It was a strange picture. From a corner of the painting, black spread out, and people who looked like small dots were running away from the black. Kyrie approached the painting, swept the picture with her fingers without realizing it. It was black with some persistence. She can feel the intention of the person who drew it.

“It’s a pretty picture, isn’t it?”

Before she knew it, Dr. Poe came near her and asked. Kyrie hesitated and picked up the pen.

「Is this the end?」

“That’s pretty much it. I don’t know what it is.”

Kyrie’s eyes glued to the painting. By all appearances, the ‘black thing’ in the painting was similar to Nathaniel. With his shadow, which sometimes moves as if it were alive.

The question that had been buried has resurfaced.

‘What the hell is he?’

She knows Nathaniel is a very powerful being. But she didn’t know anything about who he was. It’s not that she didn’t mean to ask, but Nathaniel showed signs that he didn’t want to talk.

‘Should I have asked?’

“There’s only one, but there’s something similar about past murals.”

Dr. Poe drew another painting and showed it to her. Something persistent, creepy black, and people who run away.

「It’s not just one time?」

‘No, this has happened many times in history. Don’t you know the legend?

「If something like this comes up again, will people all die?」

“Ho. Surprisingly not.”

Kyrie’s head turned at the unexpected answer. Dr. Poe looked excited.

“Civilization couldn’t have improved this much if that had happened, of course!”

「So there’s a way? How do you get away from this?」

“I can’t give you a definite answer because it’s not in the literature, but there are some theories.”

Kyrie’s eyes got bigger. The pen in her hand moved as if it were flying.

「What’s that?」

Dr. Poe pulled on his mustache and shrugged.

“It’s not a very difficult strategy. These secrets are supposed to be hidden in fairy tales, proverbs, or folktales. It’s… …”

It was a moment when Dr. Poe’s mouth opened.

“Dear Doctor.”

Jerome called out from a distance.

“It’s time for the other doctors to come back, is that all right?”

Dr. Poe jumped from his seat without speaking.

“No, you can’t! You’re in trouble too, aren’t you?”

“Ah….”

“Come on, let’s go! I’ll explain to the people that my guest is staying, so you’ll be able to rest well.”

Dr. Poe pushed Kyrie like a nudge. Thanks to this, Kyrie had to leave the auditorium without hearing the next word.

“I’m going to go greet people. I’m a little busy with the upcoming academic conference. Jerome will show you around!”

Dr. Poe said that and then moved like a fat goose and disappeared.

Jerome was the only one left. Kyrie hid her discomfort and wrote to show him.

「You can go back to work alone.」

Jerome smiled awkwardly with a red face, perhaps because he was drunk.

“No…I’ll take you there.”

He seems to be stubborn. Kyrie headed for the assigned room without saying a word. Jerome followed suit. He was silent for a while, but he called Kyrie by the time she climbed the stairs of the tower.

“Well, Buchanan…nim?”

Kyrie turned her head.

“Do you need anything? What do you want to eat in particular….”

「I’m fine.」

“I’m going to get the cows the day after tomorrow, do you like beef or…….”

Jerome hiccuped as he finished speaking. Kyrie shook her head with a cold look. Fortunately, the room was just around the corner. As the spiral staircase was almost over, Jerome raised his voice a little more.

“I’m always on the first floor of the main building, so if you’re bored…… at any time. I mean, even at night, hehe.”

「That’s not gonna happen. I need you to leave me alone.」

Kyrie responded with the utmost dignity and then shut the door in front of Jerome, who looked disappointed. She sighed. Staring down from fatigue, she immediately narrowed her brows.

The lock was outside.

“…….”

She didn’t hear the sound of retreating footsteps outside for a long time. Kyrie stayed still for a while, holding the doorknob. It was not until a long time later that she heard the sound of footsteps going down the stairs, along with the sound of tongue clicking.

Kyrie waited a long time before carefully climbing down the tower. And hid in a pile of straw in the barn she saw on the way. The frosty straw smelled like horse manure, but only then could Kyrie fall asleep.

***

Dr. Poe ordered Jerome to call Kyrie as soon as the morning broke.

“Dr. Poe is calling.”

「I’ll be there soon. Wait downstairs.」

Kyrie scrawled, a little irritated, because he opened the door right after knocking.

「Next time, you can only enter when I give permission.」

Jerome just grinned.

Kyrie went down the tower after carefully putting on the veil that now felt like a part of her body.  She was a little startled because she had not known he would call in the morning.  Because it was very rare for scholars to wake up in the morning.

After entering the auditorium, she realized that they had not woken up early in the morning, they had only not slept yet. Dr. Poe, who had more hollow eyes than yesterday, smiled at Kyrie.

“I would like to introduce myself. Should I do it first? I am Salamis Poe, studying the apocalypse!”

There were two more people on both sides of him. Among them, a thin, clown-like man glared at Kyrie and said.

“Are you Buchanan?”

Kyrie nodded.

“Well, you’ve come all the way here.”

“Oh, Gerald!”

“Miss. Buchanan, I’m sure your ears are fine. Did you hear that? That’s my name, though. But please call Dr. Seward, not Gerald. It’s better if you don’t call me at all.”

It was blatant hostility, but she didn’t feel so bad. Dr. Seward frowned at Jerome, who was still standing near the door.

“Dr. Poe, can you fire that drunkard now? It’s bad luck to see that face in the morning.”

Jerome flinched. Dr. Poe covered Jerome with a huge body and beckoned him to go behind his back.

“However, Jerome is doing very well, Gerald.”

“I’m sure he is. It’s a day or two when he drinks everyday and you’re in a bad mood and barely finish your day before it’s over?”

“But….”

Dr. Poe began to look sullen with a gentle sheep-like face. Dr. Seward looked exasperated,, and then a white-haired woman who was sitting next to him without a word stepped forward.

“Nice to meet you, Miss Buchanan.  My name is Margaret Hawksong.  We are studying  ‘the End’.”

「It’s Kyrie Buchanan. Nice to meet you.」

“You’re welcome.”

There was no goodwill in her manner, but there was courtesy. When Kyrie nodded and was greeted, Dr. Hawksong clapped her hands twice to distract Dr. Po and Dr. Seward, who had been arguing until then.

“We’re here to have a serious talk, aren’t we, folks?”

“What serious discussion.”

“Gerry, you’re sensitive due to lack of sleep. Let’s get it over with and go to bed.”

Dr. Seward grumbled and shut up. Perhaps it was Hawksong’s role to calm him down, Dr. Poe stepped up again.

“I’m sorry I didn’t show you my face, miss……, by the way, Dr. Hartwood’s message is for the three of us alone.”

“The damn woman.”

“It also means that I am somewhat aware of your situation. So we’re going to help you.”

“I don’t feel like it.”

“Gerald!”

Dr. Poe shuddered and stared at Seward, but Dr. Seward snorted.

“Are you going to cry again?”

“How dare you say that!”

Dr. Poe let out a scream. Dr Hawksong only drank tea while watching them.

The three were like people who sacrificed their social skills and gained intelligence and high education. Kyrie moved her pen on the paper without saying a word.

「I have to cross the sea to the North Continent.」

Fortunately, everyone stopped what they were doing when the note was placed in front of them.

“The sea, hmm.”

“Quite a large area is frozen right now. I would have given anything to see  it freeze with my own eyes! It would take a lot of power to freeze that ocean. It’s definitely the Legendary Lord.”

“I want to look at the sea. If that large area is  frozen, the ocean currents would have changed. Isn’t that right, Dr. Hawksong?

“I guess so, Gerry. But considering that the person who created it is the Legendary Lord, it may not surprisingly affect the current.”

“Why don’t you stop by the north coast after the conference? Come to think of it, I’ve heard there’s some kind of apocalypse around there.”

“Gerald, how could you…… a great idea!”

Kyrie watched them from the side. They, as professors do, returned to the original subject after a number of miscellaneous talks.

“You must  go to the western end, right?”

「Western End?」

Dr. Poe nodded.

“There is an excellent wizard in the village of Libra at the western end. They’re very famous around here.”

“You have to take the benefit of the doubt, yes.”

It seemed to be a good plan, considering Dr. Seward’s mild acceptance with folded arms.

Then, Dr. Hawksong coughed gently.

“But isn’t there the biggest problem?”

“Problem?”

“The people of Old Ciudad and Fort Ducaine are looking for you. That’s pretty hard, too.”

Kyrie’s heart sank with a thud. When a problem that she didn’t want to think about was on the cutting board, her whole body felt like it was contracting.

“I’d say the two families turned completely with the Legendary Lord.”

“I don’t know what they’re thinking. Was the relationship between Buchanan and Old Ciudad and Fort Ducaine so bad?”

Kyrie looked down at the paper with gloomy eyes. The edge was wrinkled because she unknowingly clenched her fist..

「It’s not like that.」

The eyes of the three turned to Kyrie’s penmanship.

「No, it’s because two family heirs died trying to get me out of the capital.」

Surprised by the faces of the three doctors. Kyrie thought they were surprised at what she said. But Dr. Seward asked back with a glum look.

“What are you talking about? Didn’t the investment king of Maria Old Ciudad and Fort Ducaine enter the palace?”

‘What?’

Kyrie’s head was lifted. Dr. Seward kicked his tongue at Kyrie, and Dr. Hawksong opened her mouth instead.

“Because we are far from the capital, we’re not sure what is going on, however, the two successors are said to be residing in the palace. Perhaps because you have been on the run, you didn’t hear the  news. That, coupled with the fact that news stopped coming from the capital for a while. But this is the latest we have heard…”

「They are alive?」

Her writing was almost illegible because of her rushed scribbling. Dr. Poe looked at Kyrie with pitiful eyes.

“I think so. If the heirs of the two families had died at the same time, the country would not have been so quiet.”

Kyrie’s hand clenched the pen tightly. Her heart was filled with indescribably.

They’re alive.

They are alive.

She felt like crying. She knew she had a strange look on her face, but she couldn’t control her emotions. The three doctors, even Dr. Seward, slipped away from her.

Then, Dr. Poe wriggled his chubby caterpillar-like fingers and shrugged his shoulders.

“Well, folks, how about this?”

His voice was bright enough to change the mood at once.

“We’re going to attend an academic conference at the Great Library of Phronois soon. So what about the miss accompanying us?”

Dr. Seward immediately got up in a rage.

“Dr. Poe, do you think this is a children’s prank? Accompany us?!”

“Gerald, she’s Dr. Hartwood’s daughter.”

“But not Dr. Hartwood herself! No, even if she was herself, it would be ridiculous!”

Dr. Hawksong, who was watching the situation at that time, raised her hand gently.

“Gerry, why don’t you listen first?”

“Dr. Hawksong!”

“Go on, Salamis.”

“Thank you, Margaret. I honestly don’t think there’s a safer way.”

“There must be no political intervention in the hall of intelligence! It’s dangerous to even accept it like this, accompanying us? You really don’t expect this to happen? I’m telling you, he is the Legendary Lord. You’re a scholar, you don’t know how powerful he is!”

“Dr. Hartwood was convinced that the Legendary Lord would not touch her territory, or us. I believe in her judgment. Besides, you know the atmosphere of the conference? I’m sure the streets will be noisy if it’s the last day.….”

“Dr. Poe!”

Dr. Poe poked out his lips with a slightly coy look.

“If you really want to disagree, write to Dr. Hartwood yourself.”

Suddenly Dr. Seward made a strange noise. He wiggled his chin like a broken doll, muttering in a hoarse voice.

“No, I-I don’t think so.….”

“Dr. Hartwood will love Gerald’s letter.”

“Well, I don’t think…….”

“She’ll love it.”

“Don’t stress it!”

“What’s Gerald’s idiot index right now?”

“Stop it!”

But when Zhenya Hartwood’s name came out, Seward seemed to have lost his will to refute, and Hawksong seemed unwilling to intervene in the first place. Dr. Poe, who looked around the audience, curled his hands and shook his shoulders.

“Then go to Phronois with the lady, and then move slightly away to Libra…… ‘Unanimous’!”