Chapter 5- Found (3)
Chimera creation.
The act of combining different life forms to create a new life.
Surprisingly, it was not taboo.
The alchemy taboos were exactly two:Turning stone into gold, and reviving the dead.
Gold creation disrupts market balance,
And reviving the dead is an act that goes against divine providence.
Necromancer?
They were qualitatively different.
Necromancers only resurrect corpses and control souls.
‘Reviving the dead’ was resurrection itself.
Creating a body that had lost life again, and summoning the soul back – it was the ‘divine miracle’ itself.
Of course, Evan had no intention of attempting the taboo.
‘Knowing what price would be paid?’
Alchemy is not omnipotent.
Equivalent exchange.
Just as paying a fair price when buying something,
When creating something, one must pay the corresponding price.
Then what would be the price for creating life?
The price for calling back a dead soul, recreating the body exactly as it was in life, and healing all diseases and wounds?
‘Ugh, I don’t even want to imagine.’
Evan knew how terrible the consequences of taboos could be.
Let alone the taboos themselves, he didn’t even dare to consider similar actions.
Why?
Because chaos would come to the world, not just life.
It was absolutely not because he was worried about saving his own life.
Absolutely not.
‘I must absolutely protect my life.’
But why do misunderstandings keep piling up?
Inside the dark office.
Evan, with his hands clasped under his chin, was seriously contemplating.
He had definitely lived quietly.
In the Theodore disappearance case, even though he was suspected as the culprit, he even helped.
Other than that?
Nothing.
That meant he had lived that quietly.
Now that good news should be circulating, why on earth…?
“What could possibly be the problem?”
“Hmm…”
Knock, knock! Dolph, who was shaking out a snow-white blanket, tilted his head.
“I don’t know either. Where else would you find someone as diligent and quiet as the young master…”
“Indeed.”
“Uh-huh. Uh-huh?”
“Finish eating and then speak.”
Lapis, who was chewing a raw cucumber, raised her hand high!
“Could it be because of me?”
Lapis had been staying at the mansion for three days.
During that time, Lapis had completely adapted. A frighteningly adaptable capability.
Evan asked Lapis: “Did you perhaps hit anyone or eat any living people?”
“No.”
“Did you ask to play string games together?”
Lapis mainly dealt with magic threads created through magical power, magic threads.
That was Lapis’s specialty and hobby. A very healthy and wholesome hobby.
At least she didn’t chop people into tiny pieces.
“No. I didn’t. I just helped the aunties with their work…”
Aunties?
Oh, was she talking about the maids?
…Could these words be causing strange rumors?
“Hmm. Understood. For now, it’s best not to use the word ‘aunties’.”
“Understood.”
“Did you perhaps catch any monsters while helping the maids?”
“Are there monsters in this mansion? That shouldn’t happen. They taste bad.”
“?”
It wasn’t about taste.
He swallowed back his retort.
Phew, survived.
“Of course there aren’t any. I was just curious and asking.”
“Understood. But… if I do something wrong, l would not be able to eat this, right?” Lapis pointed to her plate.”
The plate that was previously full of vegetables and fruits.
Now almost completely empty with just a few pieces left.
“No. That’s impossible. That’s that, and meals are meals.”
“Really?”
“Of course.”
Lapis’s face brightened.
Evan secretly passed her a bell pepper.
Not because he absolutely didn’t want to eat it.
“Eat.”
“Wow!”
Lapis devoured the bell pepper.
In three days, Lapis had become close to being a vegetarian.
Vegetables every time she ate, more vegetables.
If she felt an aversion to meat, she would reject it herself.
‘I should eat for health, but for now, let’s leave it be.’
What matters is now.
She changed her diet and developed a healthy hobby.
Isn’t this enough to form the foundation of rehabilitation?
Evan made a satisfied smile.
‘First, I must clear up this misunderstanding.’
Such a child is a Chimera.
How could you call her……
“Ta-da. Um, I can make a star now.”
“Impressive. Well done.” Evan patted Lapis’s head.
During that time, Dolph, who had briefly left the room, quickly returned.
“Young master! The reply has finally arrived!”
“······A reply?”
Dolph held out a pristine white letter to Evan.
A familiar seal caught his eye.
Huh? This is…
“The Saint?”
“Yes!”
Dolph couldn’t hide his excitement.
“A reply has come…! Can we now cure your illness?!”
“······Really?” Lapis also looked up at the letter with hopeful eyes.
She had been with Evan for three days.
She naturally quickly noticed that his body was not well.
‘I wondered if she might look down on me and attack because of that, but fortunately, that wasn’t the case.’
Rather, she treated me well.
It was like looking at an animal trying to earn its keep.
“Open it quickly.”
“Young master! Right away!”
“Understood.”
What if the contents of this letter were not what he thought.
For some reason, he felt goosebumps.
Sweeping down his arm, he carefully opened the letter.
-To Evan Alcart.
-I have received the letter. Every night, I cannot sleep.
-Why did you first send a letter to us, why did you give us such a precious gift.
-But I realized after seeing your other letter. That the time is not yet right.
-I will wait for the answer to arrive.
-Sun’s Saint, Saint Adrianna.
-P.S. Have you received the ‘gift’ we sent?
“······?”
The emotion that arose from reading the letter.
It was simply ‘doubt’.
‘What is this saying?’
He had expected something like ‘thank you’, ‘I will definitely repay the favor’, ‘do you like the blessing’, ‘will you join us’ and so on…
What? These cryptic responses?
‘Did the reply get mixed up? No, that can’t be right.’
It was stamped with a seal only the Saint could use.
It was definitely not a forgery.
‘Hmm, so… she didn’t understand why I gave the gift?’
Well, it was understandable to have doubts.
Evan and the Saint have never met.
Evan had only heard of the Saint’s reputation one-sidedly.
Yet suddenly sending a potion and a letter?
Even if Evan were the Saint, he would have felt somewhat hesitant.
‘So she’s losing sleep over this?’
Her heart seems more delicate than expected.
It didn’t seem like she disliked the gift. A precious gift she called it.
In other words, she saw its effectiveness, didn’t she?
‘But the time is not yet right? What does this mean?’
Isn’t this the content of the letter sent to Arthur?
More precisely, the phrase written outside the letter.
‘I didn’t notice in the main text? Hmm, looks like an oracle has been issued.’
Evan decided to let it slide.
The Saint was a character where holiness and mystery coexisted.
It wasn’t strange to have one such oddity.
‘Although DLC is involved, it was just a side story.’
In the main story, it was clearly mentioned that Saint Adrianna and Holy Knight Arthur Modriter had no particular connection.
Would the production team go crazy and change all the settings they mentioned in the main story?
‘The gift? Perhaps it hasn’t arrived yet.’
What kind of gift could it be? A small anticipation arose.
It was the Saint, after all.
Perhaps because the main story starts five years from now, they didn’t seem to write letters very well.
Hmm!
Evan, who had been contemplating, nodded.
‘Maybe I was thinking too complicatedly.’
The important thing was that the Saint didn’t seem to view Evan negatively.
‘I should send a reply.’
In letters, the heart matters more than the content.
‘Suggesting we become friends wouldn’t be a problem.’
First, send the reply right away.
Evan took out a new letter paper and quickly scribbled.
Roughly, it said, let’s get along well, we can be good friends, what do you usually enjoy… and so on.
Someone might see it as a love letter, but Evan was sincere.
‘Who knows? Maybe the Saint will give me a blessing.’
A precarious life where he might collapse at any moment.
Preparation was essential.
“This should be enough. Dolph. Please deliver this reply.”
“Yes! I’ll deliver it right away and come back!”
“Lapis? What’s outside the window?”
“Yes.….. Yes? No. There are bugs flying outside.”
Lapis staring out the window.
Her blood-red pupils sparkled with an indecipherable light.
***
In the nearby black forest.
Shadow watched the back of Dolph, Evan’s servant going out to attach the letter.
‘The Saint has finally sent a reply.’
6 days.
It was not a short time.
Fortunately, the distance between the Central and House Alcart was far; otherwise, it wouldn’t have been strange to think the letter was ignored during this period.
The Saint really contemplated a lot before sending a reply.
How to avoid going against Evan’s mood.
How to gauge Evan’s intentions.
‘Fortunately, it seems to have worked well.’
Shadow rubbed his chin.
Everything was going smoothly.
The Saint had begun to move, and Arthur’s recovery was gradually showing improvement.
‘Last night, he finally succeeded in imbuing Aura into his sword.’
It had been several years since Arthur lost his Aura.
Since that day his only family and younger sister fell ill and was stripped of her title as ‘Divine Maiden.’
He wielded the sword with strength alone. And now he had begun to imbue Aura.
Just how strong would he become?
The anticipation was building.
After all, the growth of a master whom one always acknowledges and serves brings joy to their subordinates.
‘Come to think of it, it should be about time for the Master to arrive.’
Shadow is an assassin.
He had a master who taught him assassination techniques.
The master is a beggar.
Literally.
A wandering beggar and assassin who never settles in one place.
Occasionally, he would send news to his disciple.
Even the method was quite brutal.
The letters would arrive along with daggers.
Sometimes, the memory of the master’s ‘Hehehe’ laughter would make his whole body shiver.
‘He said he would come once, it would be nice to see him.’
First, focus on the mission.
It’s a letter for the Saint.
He had to inspect it carefully to ensure no one would steal it.
“Hello.”
That’s when it happened.
A polite greeting came from behind.
Shadow nodded.
“Yes, nice to······.”
Wait a minute.
Hello?
Whoosh!
Shadow hastily stepped back.
Where he had been standing.
A girl with white hair and red eyes was standing there nonchalantly.
A presence that seemed inhuman.
Since when?
“Who are you?”
“I’m called Lapis.”
“Lapis? ······So you’re that kid they rumored to be a chimera.”
“That’s too harsh. I’m too unstable to say I was created by that person.”
······Unstable?
He noticed from her way of speaking.
This girl is no ordinary child.
“Who are you?”
“But it’s not bad. It means I appear natural enough to be seen as their creation.”
Lapis showed an expression of joy.
It looked awkward, as if she had never smiled before.
But one thing was certain.
Right now, Lapis was showing complete loyalty to ‘Evan’.
“In a short time. I learned many things during that time. From speech patterns to delicious foods like vegetables and fruits, basic knowledge……”
Rustle-
Cut branches and leaves showered down.
“And lastly, the ‘peace’ that came to my heart.”
Lapis.. She was always angry.
She didn’t know why.
She had been that way since birth.
Everyone looked at her with anger, and she too was angry.
But Evan?
‘He was different.’
Even after seeing Ira, he didn’t get angry.
He always maintained basic manners, using polite speech.
Like someone who came from a different world.
That couldn’t be, except for one thing.
‘He must know about my fate.’
Just how much does Evan know?
And how much can he fix?
No, it didn’t matter if he didn’t fix anything.
Evan.
It would be enough if he alone understood and took care of Ira.
The Sins were sensing their own fate.
Having the power that symbolizes sin, destined to destroy the world.
That was inevitable.
An impurity that interfered with, did not belong to, such inevitability.
So small and precious.
There wasn’t even the slightest thought of losing it.
“I don’t know if you’re a bad person or not, but I know you’re watching over him.”
Swoosh-
The forest began to glow softly.
The magic threads spread like spider webs,
Began to shine as they reflected the moonlight.
[Magic Thread – Cat’s Cradle]
A forest shining with silver light.
The magical beasts roaming nearby were cut into pieces by the threads, spraying fountains of blood.
“I won’t kill you.”
‘……Oh my.’
Shadow hurriedly turned his body.
At the same time,
The spider-web-like threads poured down like waves.
***
The Saint stared at the letter with a hardened expression.
The small bloodstain at the end of the letter.
Cold sweat ran down involuntarily.
“……Huh, hehe. This is scary.”
The Saint forced a smile as she opened the letter.
More precisely, next to it.
The enclosed envelope.
“……Is this a warning?”
Inside it was Shadow’s severed arm.
