Book 2: 304

Book 2: Chapter 304

Translator: Seven

Editors: Ana_Banana, Yahiko

Cairo was speechless.

Somehow, a conversation had been established between the Grand Master of the Circle, who could be said to have the greatest influence on the continent, and this crippled man, who had seemingly rolled out from somewhere.

Of course, this was only possible because of Ivan’s personality.

Ivan was the type of person who hated rigid manners and pretentiousness, so it could be said that this man suited his personality perfectly. They treated each other as equals regardless of strength, origin or authority.

In other words, Ivan had approved of this man.

“It doesn’t seem like you’re aware of your position.”

Nevertheless, Cairo felt that this man was going too far. He really wanted to say something, but he knew he couldn’t open his mouth because of the warning Ivan had given just before.

“My position?”

“It seems to me that you are the leader of this group. This is a situation where everyone is relying on you. It can be said that you are the centre of this group.”

“Ha.”

A sneer stretched across Ivan’s lips.

“They should rely on themselves. I never wanted to do something like this in the first place.”

“...”

That was true. He hadn’t wanted it from the start.

‘In the end, he was just doing me a favor.’

When he’d heard his selfish request to become the leader of the Circle, Ivan had reluctantly agreed.

...Lukas still wasn’t completely sure about what Ivan had experienced during those 10 years.

He didn’t know how much he’d changed or what his thoughts were.

Nevertheless, there were still a few things that he knew.

He knew that Ivan had suffered greatly under the burden of being the Grand Master. And that he thought he wasn’t suitable for the position.

He knew that look on his face.

Since it was the same look Lukas had in the past.

He hadn’t thought very deeply about this at that time. No, he’d thought about it, but he’d simply ignored it. He deluded himself into believing that even if he died, there would be others that could take his place.

And he’d wrapped that delusion into a nice package called trust.

But he finally realised. It had never been about trust. He’d simply been trying to shirk his own responsibilities.

4,000 years ago.

When Lukas disappeared, the heroes who had been fighting against the Demigods with him died or disappeared one after the other.

Therefore, the role of the centre was much more important than most could understand.

...Maybe Ivan was the Lukas of this era. That was the thought Lukas had at that moment.

He thought that Ivan could lead people in a different way than he did, perhaps even better than he did.

‘Nevertheless.’

The Circle was currently divided. The conflict and strife hadn’t disappeared at all.

Even though the Demigods had disappeared, peace was still a distant thought.

That thought caused his heart to fluctuate once again, but it quickly calmed down.

Lukas felt that he needed to know a bit more about the Circle’s situation before he could make any conclusions.

“...You.”

Ivan’s gaze locked onto Lukas.

“Have we met before?”

“...”

“Hoh.”

For elves, who had enhanced hearing, the sound of thunder was particularly harsh.

While thinking about such inconsequential things, she finally arrived at her destination.

Click-

With a soft sound, she opened the door and entered the library.

The hundreds of bookshelves seemed to create a heavy atmosphere.

0

There was no one else in the library. Thanks to that, she was able to easily find the person she had been looking for.

In any case, with his rare white hair, it wouldn’t have been that hard anyway. Snow hardly knew anyone who had a similar hair colour.

Perhaps it was this strange feeling of unfamiliar familiarity that caused her to be so interested in him.

“Have you eaten yet?”

“...”

She didn’t receive an answer.

Lukas was practically buried in a pile of books.

Two days.

That’s how long he had been in this place. As soon as the discussion ended, he headed straight for the library. She hadn’t heard any reports of him leaving, so this man should have been here the entire time.

Snow looked at him for a moment before walking past him.

The library was also a pretty good place to take a break, with soft couches and magazines that had nothing to do with learning. She could even have whatever drinks she pleased.

Ssss...

She boiled two cups of black tea in her hands. While she couldn’t say that it tasted amazing, at the very least, it wouldn’t taste bad.

Clink-

Then she placed one of them in front of Lukas.

It was only at that moment that Lukas finally stopped reading the book. To be precise, he simply lifted his eyes from the pages of the book and looked at Snow.

“Even if you don’t want to eat, you should stay hydrated.”

“...”

“Drink up. If you want to keep reading.”

Lukas finally put the book down.

Then he took a small sip of tea, savouring the taste for a moment before swallowing it.

Snow stared at him for a moment before slowly opening her mouth.

“...those two.”

At that moment, she thought back to the meeting two days ago.

“Are the ones who currently stand at the very top of the Circle. Therefore-”

“The chances of me having met them is very low?”

Lukas’ voice cracked slightly. This showed that it had been quite a while since he’d last spoken.

“Hmm.”

Instead of responding, Snow let out a small sigh.

It was in her nature to simply blurt out whatever she was thinking. So for her to not directly affirm Lukas’ words could already be considered a great consideration on her part, but Lukas couldn’t realise that fact.

Tak.

He put the teacup down. It was half empty.

“Do you remember everything now?”

If Snow hadn’t been mistaken, then Lukas had been surprised when Ivan and Iris didn’t recognise him.

Lukas didn’t answer directly and instead looked up at her again.

“There’s something I’d like to ask you.”

“Say it.”

“...the name Lukas Trowman. Have you ever heard it before?”