Chapter 118: Allen Amiel (8)
“I apologize for calling you out like this, despite your busy schedule. I’ve had no time at all due to the aftermath of yesterday’s incident.”
To the Headmaster Yeriel’s apology, I shook my head.
“Not at all. No matter how busy I may be, it can't compare to your schedule, Headmaster.”
“Ha ha.”
At my oddly tense response, he let out a dry laugh.
With a click, he prepared the teacups and sat down wearily.
“So… how are you feeling? Any strange symptoms?”
At the Headmaster’s question, I drew a short breath and nodded.
“I’m fine. I’m sorry to have caused you worry. And… I’ve incurred a debt I never intended to. No matter how long it takes, I will make sure to repay it.”
My stiff tone, as if I had rehearsed it in advance, made the Headmaster momentarily look at me with a puzzled expression.
Then he chuckled, as if realizing what I meant.
“Ah, I see now. I was wondering what you were going on about. That’s not why I called you here.”
“Pardon?”
The Headmaster continued in a gentle voice.
“Now that I think about it, I suppose you might have been worried.”
Lifting a cup filled with warm tea, he spoke.
“It wasn’t due to any malice on your part. It was an accident, an unfortunate one at that. How could I blame you for it? If anything, had that not happened, not only you but everyone else would have been in danger.”
“……”
“Even if someone were to be held accountable, I have no intention of demanding anything from you. That wouldn’t be right… and more importantly, Airos has already paid the price.”
“Airos has?”
“Yes.”
The Headmaster nodded.
“He told me himself. Regardless of the circumstances, he was the one entrusted with the item, and since it was stolen, he bears the blame and would pay the price.”
With a small cough, the Headmaster set down his teacup.
At that moment, I heard a faint sigh of relief from beside me.
“Huu…”
The source of the sigh was Windy May.
Perhaps even more nervous than I was, she had been going through her mental inventory of things she could possibly sell.
Thinking how fortunate it was not to come to that, she quietly reached for her teacup.
“In truth, the reason I called you here is about something else. Yul Runberg… I wanted to ask you something about him.”
“……”
Yul Runberg.
At the mention of his name, my eyes narrowed slightly.
“To be precise, it's about the fragment of Tobrida that he possessed.”
Stopping for a moment, he glanced at me and asked.
“You fought him, so you must have sensed it to some extent, yes? That he had… a power that no ordinary person could possess… I mean, a power that manipulates the mind.”
“Yes.”
“The corpse of a powerful mage alone can become a fine artifact. The same goes for the body of a demon.”
In a chilling tone, the Headmaster continued.
“I can’t tell you the full details of the incident… but I can tell you this: Yul Runberg possessed part of Tobrida’s corpse. And until last night—up until the moment he died—he definitely had it on him. But when we examined the body, it had vanished without a trace.”
I instinctively thought of Airos.
After all, he was the last person to handle Yul Runberg’s corpse.
But as if reading my thoughts, the Headmaster spoke firmly.
“Airos is not the culprit.”
He repeated it, as if to emphasize.
“I know his situation better than anyone. Airos—if it were about hiding something, especially not just anything but Tobrida’s remains—he’d rather choose death.”
I cautiously asked,
“But… didn’t you say that power involved mind control? What if… by chance…?”
“…I don’t know much about this Airos dragon.”
Windy May, who had been silent until then, finally spoke up.
“But he swore to us—upon his own heart and name. You know this too, Lian… for a dragon, swearing upon their heart is no different than a vow. That means he couldn’t have lied. He really has nothing to do with this.”
“…I see.”
I quietly nodded.
This was Windy May’s assurance—no one else’s.
I had no choice but to trust it.
‘But if that’s the case…’
Then where in the world had that fragment of Tobrida gone?
I suppressed my tangled emotions and replied,
“I’m sorry, but I don’t know anything about it either.”
“I see… I only asked on the off chance. I may have made it sound serious, but in truth, it’s probably not something to worry too much about.”
The Headmaster rubbed the corner of his eye wearily as he spoke.
“Items of that kind are often highly volatile. In most cases, they vanish naturally upon the owner’s death. There’s a long history of such cases. It’s probably the same this time… but considering the situation, I had to make sure.”
“…I hope so too.”
Lian nodded as he replied.
After a short pause, he cautiously spoke.
“Then… is that all you needed from me?”
“There’s one more thing. To be precise, I have something to give you.”
“Something for me?”
“Yes.”
The Headmaster nodded calmly.
“Airos sent you a gift as an apology.”
At those words, Lian looked slightly surprised.
He had suspected Airos might send some kind of compensation, considering how many times he insisted on making amends…
But he hadn’t expected it to arrive this quickly.
“This soon?”
“It must’ve weighed on him quite heavily. He told me he’s preparing gifts for everyone involved, but he sent yours separately and ahead of time.”
At the Headmaster’s gesture, a long box that had been placed to the side floated through the air and landed on the table with a thud.
Lian carefully began to open the box.
“He said he forged it himself from his own scales and teeth.”
Inside was a longsword.
As he left the Headmaster’s office, Lian let out a deep breath.
With the sound of the door closing behind him, the tension that had filled him seemed to release all at once.
Though the conversation with the Headmaster hadn’t been as worrisome as he feared, it hadn’t been light either.
The story of Yul Runberg, the missing fragment of one of the Eight Demon Lords…
‘…Let’s hope it’s nothing serious.’
Without realizing it, Lian scratched at his collarbone a couple of times as he walked.
Each step made the sword at his hip rattle slightly.
It gave off a pleasant weight and a sense of security.
“But still…”
Would I really have a chance to use this?
Lian glanced down at the longsword Airos had forged from his own scales and teeth and thought.
The Holy Sun Church’s doctrine strictly forbade the use of bladed weapons except in specific circumstances.
After a brief moment of hesitation, Lian gave a decisive nod.
‘I can just use it like a club like Lancia does, and use the blade only if necessary.’
Besides, the mace he had been using as a weapon had broken, and he had been needing a new one.
In that sense, it was perfectly timed.
It was then—
“Lian.”
Just as he was about to leave the hallway, a familiar figure came into view.
It was Allen Amiel.
He gave a slight bow and greeted him politely.
“If you don’t mind, may I have a moment of your time?”
Though it was an unexpected appearance, Lian was not flustered and soon nodded.
“Sure. Let’s find a quiet place to talk.”
The two of them headed for a quiet garden.
Perhaps because it was an in-between hour, the surroundings were calm.
Only the occasional sound of leaves rustling in the breeze could be heard.
Lian and Allen sat side by side on a bench, keeping a small distance between them.
“There’s something I’ve really wanted to say to you, Lian.”
As soon as he sat down, Allen quietly began to speak.
It was as if he were talking to himself.
“The truth is… I’m not Count Amiel’s biological son.”
“What?”
Lian couldn’t help but furrow his brows.
Allen, with a bitter smile, lowered his gaze and murmured,
“I’m from a very distant collateral branch. Count Amiel registered me into the family himself.”
“…Are you sure you should be saying that so openly?”
“People tend to keep it quiet, but those who need to know already do. Even the Young Master—my older brother—is aware of it.”
Allen added softly.
“Even so, he accepted me without hesitation as a rightful member of the family.”
“……”
Lian said nothing.
He had unintentionally been drawn into hearing a complicated personal matter, but he realized that this wasn’t really what Allen wanted to say.
“In the Forest of Secrets, I’m sure you noticed I was acting a bit strange.”
Lian nodded.
“It’s something I never wanted to tell anyone… but for some reason, I want to confide in you.”
Muttering as if to himself, Allen continued.
“My real father was treated as a heretic even within the Amiel family. They say he was obsessed with things other than swordsmanship. And being from a weak collateral line, such behavior naturally put him out of favor… He ended up half-ostracized. That turned into a lifelong grudge and inferiority complex.”
“And then I was born. With hair redder than most direct descendants.”
“…And from that day on, my biological father began to stake everything on me.”
Allen let out a small sigh.
“They say he always told me—when I was just a child too young to even speak properly—that I had to resolve the regrets of my father. That since I had been born into this world, I had to repay that grace.”
“……”
Lian quietly blinked his eyes.
It felt like a memory he had tried hard to forget was resurfacing.
“In any case, my father became obsessed with returning to the family. I was merely a tool to achieve that. To that end, he began using bizarre and unrecognizable methods on me from a young age—magic, sorcery, things whose origins I still don’t know… all of it was downright grotesque. And then, something went wrong.”
Allen tapped lightly on his temple.
“One day, I started hearing voices in my head.”
Lian furrowed his brows.
“…Voices?”
“Yes. Voices.”
Allen shrugged.
“At first, it was just one. But they began to multiply, and before I knew it, dozens—hundreds—of voices were constantly chattering in my head. Because of that, I lived nearly like a fool. My father, seeing that, was deeply disappointed… and in the end, he left me and my mother behind and disappeared somewhere on his own.”
Allen gave a brief, self-deprecating laugh as he continued.
“Time passed, and I slowly grew used to it. Eventually, I met the Count, and he took me in. He saw right through my condition and tried many methods to cure me. …Sadly, all he could do was suppress it slightly with medicine.”
He chuckled awkwardly, as if realizing his story sounded all too cliché.
After a moment of that hollow laughter, Allen slowly began to rise from his seat.
“…Now comes the real reason I brought this up.”
Then, without warning, he knelt on one knee before Lian, lowering his head.
It was an expression of utmost respect.
“Wait, Allen?”
“My thanks.”
Allen’s voice was stiff, tense with emotion.
Lian was simply caught off guard, unable to follow what was happening.
“…Once again, thank you, Sir Lian Gwendil.”
Still with his head bowed, Allen continued.
“Thanks to you, my brother and I were able to survive.”
“You also helped us preserve our honor.”
“More than that, you granted me what I most desperately wished for… peace.”
He slowly lifted his head.
“The white flame you lit to bless my future—that flame cleared my mind more than ever before.
Inside me still reside countless voices. They whisper that they are the true self, sometimes tempting and shaking me. But…”
His eyes—
Eyes as vivid red as his hair turned directly toward Lian.
“The White Flame you showed me illuminated the path ahead. By making it my lantern, I can now move forward without losing myself.”
“For that, I offer my deepest gratitude.”
“And here and now, I make a vow.”
Allen Amiel.
He declared,
“No matter how long it takes, I will surely repay this debt.”
“……”
Lian silently watched him.
The Allen Amiel before him…
He was clearly no longer the same ‘Allen Amiel’ Lian had once known, and he would walk a different path from here on.
Whether that path was a good one or a bad one—
That, Lian did not know.
But.
No—he was sure of it.
One day in the future, when he recalled this moment, he would surely be able to tell himself that he had not been wrong.
That’s what Lian believed.