STM 151

Knowing the future is a great gift, but the downside is the immense anxiety that comes with losing that gift. In Hoiga’s case, that anxiety manifested itself in trembling hands.

Thud, scritch.

He had to write with a pen on paper, but his hands were shaking, so the pen kept slipping. If he pressed too hard, the ink would spill and ruin his writing.

As he discarded the paper for the umpteenth time today, Hoiga sighed. Once the future was distorted, even the few futures he knew were now tainted with distrust.

To compensate, Hoiga spent the entire day searching for even the smallest loophole in his plans and devising a backup plan to prevent it. So, when Kilu arrived at the library, he immediately expressed his concern.

“Adeye Lu sent a letter refusing the party invitation. We need another plan to bring him to the imperial capital.”

“Hoiga, didn’t you say you’d leave that matter entirely to me?”

“Of course I trust you, Duke. But variables have appeared, so the plan must change. If Adeye Lu is more obsessed with Kun than expected, he won’t easily leave that place. We need another bait in case Adeye Lu doesn’t come to the capital.”

Hoiga quickly explained the scheme he’d thought of. Kilu listened intently to the plan, then smiled strangely.

“You believe that Adeye Lu will take action to lift Kun’s curse.”

“Yes, because he’s blinded by love.”

As he spoke, Hoiga’s voice became unusually cold as a moment of shame came to mind. But soon, he returned to his anxiety about the plan.

“But we need Sarne’s help for the bait to catch Lu…”

“I’ll take care of it. Sarne wants to deal with Tairok right now, so they’ll gladly provide the bait.”

Hoiga bit his lower lip at the word “deal.” He’d already discussed with Kilu how they’d deal with him. He’d use his own prophecy.

“What if the monsters don’t appear at Crystal Lake as I prophesied? My prophecies aren’t exact with dates. They’re just rough…”

“No. Your prophecy will come true exactly on the date we want. Trust me. While the Adeye siblings wallow in agony together, rushing to their deaths, Tairok will be torn to pieces by countless monsters rising from the lakebed.”

Kilu’s relaxed smile was trustworthy, but Hoiga felt repulsed. That confidence was strangely eerie. Perhaps it was the expression about monsters rising from the lakebed.

It felt as if Kilu knew exactly what would happen to Tairok that day. No, I guess that’s just a passing expression, Hoiga thought. I have to trust my ally.

“Leave the task of taking down Adeye and Kun to me, and you, Salvation, can focus on other things.”

Kilu’s gaze turned toward the ancient texts in front of Hoiga.

“I’m desperately hoping you’ll find the location of Montaine’s divine beast door as soon as possible.”

The voice was polite, but that only added to the pressure. Hoiga sighed and scanned the documents.

Just as Kilu said, there was one record suspected to be the door of Montaine’s divine beast, but several different locations were listed. One thing that stood out was that the locations had changed over time.

He’d have limits in forming a hypothesis alone, but fortunately, he could think of several possibilities with the help of the nanobot. However, due to his cautious nature, he didn’t want to announce anything before finding solid evidence.

“Did you find something?”

“No, I’m sorry.”

When Hoiga bowed his head and apologized, Kilu patted his arm affectionately.

“It’s fine. I trust that Salvation will find what I want.”

The affectionate burden suffocated Hoiga. As he tried to focus on his interpretation, Kilu stood up, seemingly satisfied. Then, as if he had remembered something, Hoiga asked a question.

“By the way, there should be a rift in Montaine too. Even if it’s blocked by the divine beast’s power, dark mages might target this place. Shouldn’t we find and protect it?”

“I’ve already found it.”

Kilu smiled, his eyes shining.

“Now we only need to find the divine beast’s door in Montaine.”

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Grand Duke Sarne had no intention of receiving guests this day. The two weeks Bayan suggested were almost up, and he saw no way to get Tairok out.

Since he was struggling with that problem, he didn’t have the luxury to meet even the most important guest. However, a short letter delivered by the guest caught his interest.

“Solving Sarne’s biggest headache right now. Duke, what does this mean?”

Grand Duke Sarne held up the letter Kilu had sent.

“It’s exactly as it says. I heard Sarne Bayan is lingering around Kun’s land while chasing someone. It’s likely because she can’t enter Kun’s land due to Kun Tairok’s interference. Isn’t the problem solved if we just deal with him?”

“You speak as if Kun Tairok is someone you can wipe him out with a single breath. Did your mind float into the air along with your heart after you took in your partner?”

“It’s impossible with my breath, but with the breath of Salvation, I can do it, Your Grace.”

The mention of Salvation had an effect, and Grand Duke Sarne’s gaze sharpened. Kilu smiled leisurely and asked briefly.

“Shall I deal with Kun Tairok for you?”

“You shouldn’t have such power.”

“I don’t, but the monsters do. Do you remember? I told you before. Just leave Crystal Lake to Tairok. Then it’ll collapse on its own. Tairok just needs to be at Crystal Lake at that time.”

Based on his words, there was no easier way. No one had to use any strength; they just had to tie Tairok to Crystal Lake.

“What do you want from me?”

“It’s nothing much. I just want you to lure one person to the capital.”

“Who?”

“Adeye Lu.”

The unexpected name made Grand Duke Sarne silent for a moment, but then he asked.

“Did Ma Hoiga say the other Salvation’s existence is bothersome?”

“Shouldn’t it be bothersome? He’s a fake who dared to mention divine beasts and mocked the divine beast families. So, I plan to get rid of him along with Tairok. But he even refused the party invitation. I can’t call him out, perhaps because he’s so infatuated with Tairok that he can’t see anything else.”

Kilu chuckled as if he found it ridiculous and made a request to Grand Duke Sarne.

“I think it’ll take at least a clue to break Kun’s curse for Adeye Lu to move. Of course, it’s just bait, so you don’t need to hand over the real thing.”

“Adeye Lantuya won’t stay still if something happens to Adeye Lu.”

“No. She’ll stay still.”

Kilu added in a confident tone.

“Because she’ll die first that day and won’t be able to speak.”

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One word hasn’t left my head for over a week.

Time.

The one who threw this word at me like a homework assignment was the divine beast. Before Black Bear started her training, whenever I saw the divine beast, I’d run over and bombard it with questions

How exactly do I open the door? Where is Kun’s divine beast and what’s it doing? Can you close the Eye of Hell? Why do your wings look like that? Etc.

But maybe I had too many questions, or maybe it wore earplugs, because I couldn’t hear any answers. I couldn’t even do that anymore once Black Bear left for her training.

‘I don’t want to miss the precious opportunity Master Salvation gave me. But training here might damage the forest and expose my existence to the outside. I’ll leave for a place where no one will get hurt. Please give me your permission.’

It wasn’t my place to give permission or not. I was just worried. There’d be no one to help if she collapsed in a place without people.

But in the end, I couldn’t stop her. Even if she eventually lost her life because she couldn’t accept the divine beast’s power, she looked like she’d be satisfied.

And although it’s no help the bear is by her side for now. It usually has wide, madness-filled eyes, but a benevolent warmth always fills them the moment it looks at Black Bear.

And when she left, a voice suddenly echoed in my head. It was the Sarne divine beast’s voice, which I’d heard only once before.

‘Everything comes in its own time.’