Chapter 198: Encounter (12)
“Bojador Arpentia.”
A name spilled out with a thud from the figure draped in rags.
The moment he heard that name, I couldn’t help but doubt my ears.
Arpentia.
Could that person really be that Arpentia?
‘...No, thinking about it, maybe it's not so strange after all.’
In truth, it wasn’t strange for Arpentia to appear here, in the Room of Memories.
From the beginning, this place itself was said to have been created by Arpentia and Talia Poas together.
If anything, it would be stranger if the creators didn’t appear here.
“……”
While I was momentarily speechless from the surprise, Arpentia tilted his head slightly.
Beyond the shadow of the tattered cloth, the only visible thing—his eyes, like the depths of the sea—were fixed on me.
“You... do you know me?”
His voice was gloomy, and somehow hollow.
Maybe it was just my imagination, or maybe it was the sluggishness in his tone, but it even sounded somewhat clumsy.
I slowly nodded.
“Yes, I do. Honestly, it’d be stranger not to know. I’m a student of this Academy you founded yourself.”
I paused to take a breath.
“Of course, that goes for the members of the Wolpen Knights as well, but if you asked people across the entire continent to name the most famous person, countless would say your name.”
“……”
Arpentia gave no reply or reaction, still staring at me.
His pupils seemed to quiver slightly, but since they were the only thing visible in the darkness, it was hard to guess what he was really thinking.
“...Have you seen me before?”
“This is my first time seeing you in person.”
At my answer, Arpentia asked again.
“No statues, or paintings, either?”
“There are hardly any records of the Great Sage’s face. Perhaps due to the records saying you always covered your face with a mask, no depictions of your bare face remain.”
“I see…”
Arpentia nodded.
Then, in a weary voice, he said,
“Hearing your answer... I see you've met others besides me.”
Still crouching, Arpentia muttered while looking up at me.
There was something unstable about his appearance.
“……”
I quietly stepped closer and crouched down in front of him as well.
Arpentia gave a tiny nod.
“How much time has passed?”
“About three hundred years.”
He continued to ask questions.
“The sanctum… is it still intact?”
“I haven’t gone in myself, but it seems to be well-maintained.”
“Airos... is he still guarding it?”
“Yes.”
In the middle of our conversation, I suddenly paused.
Looking back, it seemed as if Arpentia had assumed I had already been to the sanctum.
The question had come so naturally that I, too, had responded without hesitation, only realizing the implication afterward.
‘...Even for the Great Sage, could he really have figured that out in such a short time?’
While I marveled to myself, Arpentia let out a sigh for some reason.
Then he spoke, as though he had seen right through my thoughts.
“From your body, I can sense Airos’s aura… and also, I can see the items forged from his body.”
“Ah.”
I nodded.
Feeling a bit embarrassed, I went silent for a moment, then continued calmly.
“...Anyway, he said it was a promise with the Saintess, that he would guard that place until the day he dies. I had a brief conversation with him.”
“I see.”
Arpentia nodded again.
His face and expression were still hidden beneath the rags and darkness, so I had no idea what he was thinking.
“Anyone else from the knights you’ve met?”
“I met two people.”
“Two…?”
For the first time, Arpentia’s body twitched.
It was a slight movement, but compared to his earlier stillness, it was quite a reaction.
“Who… and who?”
“First, I met Valen Zeisho. He’s currently at the Academy. I heard he has personal reasons for being there.”
“Personal reasons?”
“He said he came to retrieve the remains of his lineage, which had been stolen.”
“Lineage?”
“Yes.”
I answered.
“...He said it was his wife’s remains.”
“His wife… Ah… Lady Titania…”
Arpentia nodded slowly.
Then, as if regretful, he let out a deep sigh once more.
“...Then, the other one?”
“Lady Talia Poas. Strictly speaking, I didn’t meet her in person—I saw her here, in the Room of Memories.”
As soon as I finished my answer, I heard something—like a faint thud, as if something had lost its strength.
Arpentia, who had just twitched moments ago, slumped back down again.
“I see…”
It wasn’t just my imagination.
Disappointment was openly laced in Arpentia’s voice.
Even I could clearly sense it.
“...Don’t say things that get people’s hopes up. I got excited.”
Then, as if on the verge of tears, he muttered with a tinge of irritation.
At that moment, I suddenly realized just how different Arpentia’s current state was from the stories I had always heard.
The Great Sage Arpentia.
Was it because he was the youngest among the Wolpen Knights? They all supposedly cherished him like a younger brother, like a son.
It was said that he was unmatched in wisdom and intelligence, full of mischief, and sociable to everyone, treating all with warmth.
But the person before me now exuded nothing but a sense of utter helplessness and deep sorrow, wrapped in a gloomy aura.
His tone was awkward, and there was no trace of the playfulness or sociability that I had heard so much about.
“...Haa.”
Just then, Arpentia let out a very small sigh.
Wondering if he had seen through my thoughts again, I straightened my posture, startled.
And I could once again meet his gaze—those deep, sea-like blue eyes still fixed on me.
“Seeing that… you made it here, I see. On your collarbone… you carry quite a few.”
Once more, he spoke as if everything were perfectly obvious to him.
It seemed Arpentia already knew about the presence of the brand carved on my collarbone.
When I silently nodded, he whispered in a quiet voice,
“If by any chance… that thing, its name—don’t tell me. No matter… what you call it.”
He took a breath, then added,
“Giving it a name… fixes its recognition. And then…”
Cough, cough.
Arpentia gave a short cough and nodded weakly.
“Yes, the aura of the Eight Demon Lords is also… embedded in it. They couldn’t have come back to life… so you must’ve met the ones who stole fragments of their corpses… and killed them.”
Again, he was right.
I nodded once more.
“Since… you’ve come this far, I’ll answer… one question. Just… don’t mention the thing embedded in your collarbone.”
As if he already expected me to ask about the brand, he cut me off in advance.
I carefully pulled out the iron needle that Professor Windy May had given me and showed it to him.
“Could you tell me what this is?”
Arpentia stared intently at the iron needle before speaking.
“Give it here. I need to… take a closer… look.”
With that, he extended a hand still covered in rags.
He looked absurd—like a child pretending to be a ghost under a blanket.
When I cautiously handed him the iron needle, Arpentia accepted it and began to examine it.
“Ah.”
It took only a moment.
Almost as soon as he received it, he let out a short sigh and nodded as if he understood immediately.
“It’s… infused with the powers of the Eight Demon Lords.”
“What do you mean?”
At my question, Arpentia replied,
“You… even if I explain it… won’t understand.”
It wasn’t a dismissive or mocking tone.
He spoke calmly, as if merely stating a fact.
“Unless… you were a magician of a certain level… which you’re not. I can see your level… you wouldn’t be able to comprehend it.”
“If you just explain it, I can relay it to someone outside.”
“I’m saying… even just passing it on… would be beyond your ability.”
Arpentia scanned me briefly, then muttered,
“I can see it. You met… a fairly decent teacher who forcibly… opened your energy meridians and vessels.”
Nodding, he continued in his still slow voice, suppressing the occasional cough as he spoke.
“If you continue… your training for a few more years… you’ll excel even as a magician. As for your divine power… and all, you’ll… definitely make a name for yourself… in your time. You have some affinity for spirits… but it’s volatile… not something to rely on.”
As though he saw through everything about me, Arpentia had perfectly assessed my inner power.
He went on for a while, talking about me, then gave the iron needle a little shake.
“Anyway… just say it’s a product of… coincidental fusion… created by the power of the Eight Demon Lords.”
“……”
“The fact that… you can’t feel anything… even that… is beyond your comprehension.”
Arpentia let out a sound like a soft cluck of the tongue.
He tilted his head as if pondering something, then nodded deeply a couple of times.
“I more or less… understand what this… does. It revives… the dead.”
But as he finished speaking, Arpentia shook his head.
“…But that’s not… quite accurate.”
“Then how should I explain it?”
“Replaying and manifesting memories, so to speak… Haa.”
At last, Arpentia sighed, as though exasperated.
And frankly, the cryptic explanation made me want to sigh, too.
“Do you… know what a phonograph is?”
“Yes, I do.”
“If you say… this acts like the pin… on a phonograph, they might… get it. Whoever… made you the way you are… should be able to understand it just fine.”
“I’ll pass that on.”
“Good.”
As if his explanation was finished, Arpentia gave one slow, large nod.
“That’s… all.”
Then he slowly turned his body, and as when I first saw him, sat curled up again with his back toward me.
A soft voice echoed through the space.
“Go… and tell Valen Zeisho, the old man…”
Arpentia said,
“If possible… die late.”
Then came a quiet murmur.
It carried a sorrowful yet beautiful resonance, like a song from the depths of the sea.
“I’ll… be sure to come… greet you.”