Chapter 182
【 White-haired Elf 】
“Uwaaaah! Naiad, I’m sorry! I said I’m sorry! I’ll never touch your stuff again!”
“I told you to stop touching them! You’re supposed to be the leader of the fairies—act with some dignity!”
Veron was being tossed around helplessly in the hands of the white-haired elf.
The elf, called Naiad, eventually let out a sigh and released him.
“Haaah. Seriously, Veron, do you really find teasing me that fun?”
“Of course, that’s why I do it!”
“Ugh, can’t you just behave for once? Set the mood a little? All the other fairies are way too mischievous because of you!”
“How’s that my fault? Fairies are naturally curious and playful from birth. It’s our racial trait.”
“No! It’s all because of you! The leader keeps joking around like that, so everyone else got influenced!”
“What are you even talking about?!”
The white-haired elf and the King of Fairies—
Neither one was willing to back down in their argument.
As they bickered away—
“You two are at it again?”
“Huh? Ah! H-heueeeng! Akkion! Veron’s bullying me again!”
“When did I—?! You’re the one who tormented me for almost an hour just because I pulled one prank!”
“It’s you again, huh? Veron, I get that you’re bored, but you should still act with some dignity as a leader.”
“Hey! Akkion! Don’t you start too!”
When the leader of the Centaurs sided with Naiad, Veron cried out with a face full of injustice.
But Akkion didn’t pay him much mind.
Instead, he turned his head toward Naiad and gave her a gentle smile.
“Naiad, what did you do today?”
“I learned swordsmanship from my father! I was about to rest after practice, but—no, Akkion, listen! I had saved some treats for myself, but Veron came and ate them all!”
The lively elf girl began chattering away, recounting everything that had happened that day.
Akkion listened patiently, while Veron was held captive in Naiad’s grip like a guilty prisoner.
“So Veron’s the one at fault, then.”
“No, Akkion, that’s favoritism! Slander! Just because Naiad’s your daughter, how could you treat me like this—!”
“Even if you’re a leader of a race, you spend all day playing around. Don’t you think someone as polite as Naiad is a much better example?”
“…You’re awful, Akkion. How am I supposed to argue when you hit me with facts like that?”
Veron scratched his head and hung it low.
Akkion chuckled softly and lifted Naiad, who was beside him, into his arms—then placed her on his back.
“It’s getting dark. I’ll take you home, Naiad.”
“Okay! Thank you, Akkion!”
With the white-haired elf on his back, Akkion began walking toward the communal living area of the Protected Zone for Other Races.
Many other races lived there—it was only natural.
After all, this land was made for them.
“Hey, Naiad! Where were you today? Didn’t see you all day!”
“I was in the Fairies’ Forest!”
“Where are you going now?”
“Home! I’m going home!”
As the many inhabitants greeted her, Naiad smiled brightly from Akkion’s back as they headed onward.
Toward the upper part of the communal area—
According to Gideon’s memories, there was a lake there.
And within that lake...
“Dad! I’m home!”
Leaping off Akkion’s back, Naiad ran toward a grand mansion.
It was built with an aesthetic quite different from the Empire’s usual architecture—its design was clearly influenced by the other races’ sense of beauty.
“Naiad! You’re back?”
A man tending to the garden in front of the mansion turned and smiled, embracing the running girl.
“My daughter, where have you been?”
“I played with Veron in the Fairies’ Forest!”
“Played? More like you tormented me all by yourself—uwaaagh?! H-hey! Ease your grip! That hurts!”
“What are you talking about, Veron? I’m not even using any strength right now. Stop whining. And why would I torment you? There’s no elf as kind as me!”
“Haaah. You really are your father’s daughter. You’re both so good at getting on people’s nerves.”
Veron sighed and looked at the man holding Naiad.
The man simply chuckled and lightly tapped Veron on the head.
“What’s wrong with me and my daughter? We’re both perfectly kind, aren’t we, Naiad?”
“Yeah! Veron’s the weird one! We’re super nice, so why’s he accusing us like that?”
“…I, the King of Fairies, Veron, admit defeat to Kaina Mainac and Naiad Mainac… Now please let me go! How long are you two going to hold me like this?! I’m suffocating!”
“Nope. You bullied our Naiad, didn’t you? Akkion told me everything. You have to be punished.”
“That’s right! Daddy’s right—you need to be taught a lesson!”
“No, please! I’m begging you!”
As Veron wailed, the father and daughter burst into cheerful laughter.
Watching the scene unfold, Gideon closely observed the man called Kaina.
‘…That man. I’ve seen him in Peregrie’s memory…’
Right before Peregrie went to confront the Dragon Intezer—
He had spoken with a white-haired man.
That same white-haired man was now standing before him, holding the white-haired elf girl and talking to Veron.
He looked older than in Peregrie’s memory, but his warm smile, vibrant voice, and agelessly charming presence remained.
And above all—his hair, pure white as snow, identical to Peregrie’s memory.
‘My distant ancestor. The founding head of the Mainac Family. His name was… Kaina.’
Gideon’s gaze deepened as he looked at Kaina.
And he realized something immediately.
They resembled each other—no, not just slightly.
They resembled each other remarkably.
And as he watched the memory unfold, a thought crossed Gideon’s mind.
‘This must be a memory from at least 500 years ago.’
According to his knowledge, the first rebellion that Bedir had tried to start alongside the Isrinbloom Family happened around 300 years ago.
And Peregrie’s battle against Intezer was about 500 years ago.
Meaning this memory of Kaina’s life was from around that era.
* * *
The scenes within the memory began to blur and rush past.
Fragments of Naiad’s life flickered by rapidly—as if time itself was flowing onward.
Those fragmented memories were all short scenes containing Naiad’s childhood.
As countless memories passed by briefly and quickly, a moment later—
It began to show one memory again, this time at length.
‘…What a mess.’
For now, it was indeed the Protected Zone for Other Races.
But compared to the protected zone I knew… the atmosphere was far darker.
And understandably so—because in many parts of the zone now visible, the corpses of numerous other races lay scattered.
‘Was this something that happened 300 years ago?’
I looked toward the communal living area.
It looked as if a massive monster had come and smashed everything to pieces.
And that mansion I had seen earlier in the memory—the one that stood at the center of the Protected Zone for Other Races.
In the place where that mansion once stood, a massive lake had formed.
And in front of that lake stood a white-haired Elf.
She cried as she looked upon the enormous lake.
“…….”
She said nothing, shedding only silent tears.
Akkion and Veron slowly approached her side.
“…Naiad. Go inside. Even if you stand here all day… nothing will change.”
“I know, Veron. I know. I do… but why…….”
Naiad stared vacantly at the center of the lake.
“The home I shared with my father… our home…….”
“Naiad, go inside for now. Staying here won’t do you any good…….”
“Akkion, my mother… she died, didn’t she? To that dragon?”
“…Yeah. She fell while fighting that Evil Dragon.”
“So my entire family… they really all died now.”
Naiad sank down on the spot.
Her eyes grew emptier and emptier.
“I… I heard it. That dragon… it killed all of my father’s children, meaning the children he had with other races, and… including my mother, it killed all the families of those children.”
“…We haven’t fully identified the dead yet, but… from what you said, it seems Kaina’s children were all killed. Except for you.”
“My mother hid me. She used every mysterious power she could to erase all traces of me… and she went to fight, to draw the Evil Dragon’s attention. I… I couldn’t fight beside her. She hid me inside the World Tree… and locked me there so I couldn’t come out.”
Akkion and Veron listened quietly to Naiad’s story.
Naiad fell silent briefly, then asked again.
“…What happened to that Evil Dragon?”
“It ran away after finishing what it set out to do. Of course, we dealt some serious wounds to it, so it’ll spend at least a few hundred years in pain.”
“Just like Veron said, we resisted as much as we could. But… it was persistent. It placed a curse on us no matter what and wiped out every trace of Mainac. Starting with everything Kaina created, all the way to his children. Except you, Naiad.”
Veron and Akkion looked at her with sorrow in their eyes.
“Wait. If its goal was to erase everything related to Mainac… Akkion, what happened to Nawiwo? Jayward? No—what about the others of the Mainac Family…….”
“They all… seem to have died.”
Hearing Akkion’s answer, Naiad once again lost her words.
She looked increasingly dazed, as if she couldn’t believe it.
“Sakiel examined things with his eyes—he said Nawiwo landed a perfect blow on that Evil Dragon. So that dragon’s body was left with an eternal wound that can never be erased…….”
“That Evil Dragon came here carrying that wound. And with that body, it squeezed out all its remaining strength to attack us.”
“It literally risked its life to curse us and erase every trace of the Mainac Family. Since it put its life on the line, it succeeded… but with all the damage it accumulated from our attacks, it’ll suffer from aftereffects for at least 700 years.”
At Veron’s words, Akkion nodded.
He had directly faced that Black Mist-spewing Evil Dragon and witnessed it until the very moment it vanished.
Just as Veron said, the Evil Dragon’s body had accumulated many severe injuries.
It would likely be unable to use even one-tenth of its original power for centuries.
While Akkion was thinking this, Naiad opened her mouth again.
“Now that I think about it, what happened to Sakiel? Is Sakiel… okay?”
“Sakiel… used his power far too recklessly.”
Akkion answered Naiad with a sigh.
“He looked over what kind of battle the Mainac Family was fighting, and to minimize the damage we’d suffer from the Evil Dragon, he pushed his eyes way too hard. And then… to tell us which path we had to take, he squeezed out all his power to give us a prophecy… and collapsed right after.”
“He’ll probably be unable to rise for a long time, just like that Evil Dragon.”
After Veron said this, he suddenly tilted his head.
As if something didn’t make sense to him.
“But Akkion. You heard Sakiel’s prophecy too, right? The part I don’t get is…….”
“The founder of the Mainac Family. One who strongly inherits his bloodline will restore everything… You mean that line?”
“Yeah. Summing things up now, every member of the Mainac Family… especially the key figures… are all dead. And according to Sakiel’s prophecy, everyone related to Mainac will die. If there’s no one who inherited Kaina’s blood, wouldn’t that prophecy be impossible in the first place?”
At Veron’s words, Akkion took a moment to gather his thoughts.
“Actually… not everyone died. According to Sakiel’s remaining words, a branch family… a side family of the Mainac line called Kyrgram would remain.”
“But what Sakiel mentioned in his prophecy was someone who ‘strongly’ inherited the blood. The Kyrgram Family is a branch among branches—they’re basically unrelated to the Mainac Family now… so can we really trust this prophecy…….”
“Um… Veron? Akkion?”
Naiad, who had been quietly listening, spoke again.
For some reason, in the eyes that had been filled only with emptiness… a faint glimmer of hope appeared.
“You know. The one who strongly inherited the founder of the Mainac Family’s bloodline.”
“What do you… Wait. Now that you say it…….”
“…Ah.”
“You know, my father… he was Kaina Mainac.”