45. A Gamble Against Time (3)
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Back when Baek Yuseol lived on Earth, he had lived in Seoul.
But even if he had been a resident of Seoul, that did not mean he had gone around visiting every tourist spot in the city.
Deoksugung Stone Wall Road, the secret bunker beneath Yeouido, Hangang Yeouinaru, Yanghwa Bridge……
Even within that small patch of land, there had been so many places worth seeing.
So what about the capital of the elf kingdom, the Cradle of the Heavenly Spirit Tree?
The capital, Cloudflower Cradle, was so vast that even calling it a metropolis felt insufficient.
Not because it stretched wide from side to side—
but because its height rose to astonishing levels.
It was said that the atmosphere of Cloudflower Cradle changed according to the disposition of the reigning elf king.
If a stiff, cold, and stern elf king ruled, then the whole city would end up looking dull and repetitive, as though copy-pasted from one identical mold.
If an elf king with a refined artistic sense took the throne, then the city would bloom with a splendid and beautiful atmosphere.
As for the current elf queen, Kkotseorin—
she belonged to the latter category.
She loved beautiful and pretty things by nature, and her disposition was always tinged with a quiet melancholy, so Cloudflower Cradle had been decorated with exquisite care.
As a result, even back when people were playing Aether World Online, players often visited it as a famous screenshot location.
Because of that, Baek Yuseol had once thought that someday, in the distant future—
if he ever had enough free time—
he might like to wander around scenic places like this and enjoy traveling properly.
“Hehe, you came quickly.”
“Yes……”
But never in his wildest dreams had he imagined that he would end up sightseeing alongside Elf Queen Kkotseorin.
“Then…… shall we go?”
Her voice was bright with excitement, her cheeks slightly flushed.
She was dressed in a black anti-curse veil and a dress, so there was no danger of the curse of Love-Absorbing Heart-Seizing Body leaking out.
And apparently she had pulled several all-nighters just for today.
Given that, it was understandable that Kkotseorin seemed so excited.
“O-Of course.”
He was a little bewildered, sure.
Still, it wasn’t exactly unpleasant.
Because this was one of the methods for properly using the first sacred relic of Crimson Spring March.
Just like Blue Winter December’s Winter’s Heart and Red Summer June’s Fire Spirit Flower, Crimson Spring March also possessed a sacred relic called the Petal of the Gentle Heart.
It did not grant the kind of flame capable of burning the whole earth or freeze an entire place like the Levian Coast solid.
But it possessed a very special power—the ability to govern the heart.
Of course, Baek Yuseol knew very well that mishandling a sacred relic like that could lead to total disaster, so ever since obtaining it some time ago, he had never once really dared to use it properly.
Still, Crimson Spring March had said this:
‘Carry the relic, and then share the same emotion in the same place, at the same time.’
When Baek Yuseol first heard that, the very first thing that came to his mind was PvP.
Sharing the same space, the same moment, and that fierce competitive urge—the thrill! The excitement! The clash of magic between two men in a heated battle!
But Kkotseorin had offered a very different suggestion.
‘Then…… shall we just go look around the city together?’
‘Look around the city?’
‘Yes! Think of it as a sort of date.’
‘Ah…… right…….’
That had been the first time he realized that Kkotseorin was capable of smiling with that kind of pure delight.
And now, in this moment, her face was full of that same happiness.
“Come on, hurry.”
Where had that dignified, weighty queen gone?
The Kkotseorin visible beneath the veil now looked exactly like a girl thrilled at the thought of going sightseeing around the city.
“Yeah, well…… let’s go.”
He had no idea whether doing something like this would really trigger the effect of the first sacred relic……
but he decided to follow along, thinking of it as spending a summer vacation in his own way.
Because now, at last,
there was truly nothing urgent demanding his attention.
“I know the sightseeing routes well, so just follow me.”
“Oh my, wonderful. It’s my first time, after all.”
For the queen of the Heavenly Spirit Tree to casually admit that it was her first time properly walking around her own city.
Depending on how you looked at it, it was rather pitiful.
“……Still, are you sure this is really okay?”
Just before leaving White Castle, Kkotseorin hesitated one last time.
If the anti-curse barrier failed to function properly, then a catastrophe might break out.
“You were perfectly fine living inside the castle, weren’t you?”
“That’s true, but……”
“Or what? You said you went through all the trouble of sneaking out, and now you’re going to do nothing and just go back?”
“That…… no, I can’t. I snuck out behind the Lime twins’ backs. I can’t just go back like this……”
Finally, after firming her resolve, Kkotseorin strode proudly out into the city.
Her steps were so bold, as though she wanted all the people around her to look at her—
but of course.
“W-Wait. That’s the road for carriages, isn’t it?”
Just as expected, a driver steering an auto-carriage immediately began blaring his horn.
“Hey, lady! What are you doing in the road?!”
“L-Lady?”
Kkotseorin froze, apparently struck by the strange word.
“Ah, seriously.”
Baek Yuseol dashed forward and pulled her quickly onto the sidewalk.
“Hm? Eh?”
“Your Majesty…… that side is the road where only carriages go.”
“Really……? But when I used to make my rounds, I always walked there……”
“That’s because they cleared the road for you back then.”
But now things were different.
No one here recognized the existence of “Her Majesty” at all.
To them, Kkotseorin was just an ordinary passing lady……
something like that.
“Ah……”
Only then did Kkotseorin truly take in the surroundings.
No one was paying any attention to her.
She had walked through such a huge crowd, and yet no one had gone blank with fascination or fallen under her spell.
“Ah……”
And only then did she truly realize that her curse had weakened.
Thump.
Her heart beat.
The sensation of being alive.
That was right.
From the beginning, Kkotseorin had always loved the idea of walking through a place crowded with people like this.
She had dreamed of it every single day.
And now, at last, that dream had come true.
“……Come with me for a moment.”
“Hm?”
Kkotseorin caught hold of Baek Yuseol’s wrist and quickly began walking somewhere.
She pushed through street after street, weaving through the crowd.
People who had drunk too much during the summer festival were singing and dancing out in the open.
Different races had come to enjoy the festivities with lovers, family, or friends.
And after pushing through that sea of people, Kkotseorin finally found a quiet place.
At the far end of one of the World Tree’s branches, a little removed from the city center.
But the view there opened wide, revealing a beautiful place washed in the brilliant moonlight stretching far beyond the horizon.
And there—
swish!
“Whew, that feels better.”
Kkotseorin suddenly pulled off her veil.
Even though she was checking in real time through messages from the fairies and the World Tree to confirm that no one was nearby……
it was still an unbelievably bold action for her, and Baek Yuseol couldn’t help but be startled.
“W-Wait just a second. Is that really okay……?”
“Hehe, it feels so nice and cool.”
“Well, if you like it, then that’s good……”
She smiled faintly in the moonlight, and the sight was so beautiful that it almost felt like if she were to declare at this very moment that she intended to destroy the world, he would have no choice but to bow his head and say, Yes, Your Majesty! I shall obey your will!
“Haa……”
Letting her hair drift freely in the soft breeze, Kkotseorin stood with the moonlit horizon behind her and looked back at him.
“Baek Yuseol.”
“……Yes.”
“I think…… I might be incredibly happy right now.”
“Is that…… so?”
“To be honest, I’m not completely sure. This feeling is so new to me…… I almost have to wonder if this is what happiness really is.”
She turned her head and gazed quietly down over Cloudflower Cradle below.
Above and below.
Everywhere.
People were singing, dancing, and living joyfully throughout the city.
And now she too could quietly blend into that life.
“It probably is.”
“You think so too, right? There’s no way a feeling this good could be anything other than happiness.”
She smiled softly and twisted a strand of her hair.
The more he looked at her, the more the image of Elf Queen Kkotseorin slowly crumbled apart.
This queen, once so gentle and pure yet still decisive and full of authority, was now smiling without a single care in the world.
At this point, Baek Yuseol no longer knew which Kkotseorin was the true one.
The Kkotseorin he thought he knew—
or the one standing before him now.
“Haa…… it’s so cool.”
She closed her eyes and stood there for a long while, savoring the breeze.
According to Baek Yuseol’s expectation, even if someone happened to see her bare face now, they wouldn’t immediately fall under the curse and lose their mind.
Because by this point, the effect of the first sacred relic was just about to activate.
So he simply left her alone and let her stay there as long as she wanted.
After some time, Kkotseorin slowly put the veil back on and said:
“Then…… shall we really enjoy sightseeing through the city now?”
“Yes.”
That night, Baek Yuseol led Kkotseorin through every corner of Cloudflower Cradle.
They bought skewers sold on the street and ate them.
They blew up sparkling balloons and let them drift high into the sky.
They set off fireworks.
And so they enjoyed the small, yet somehow not-so-small pleasures of life.
He stayed by her side until the overflowing moonlight finally began to fade.
……Far in the eastern reaches, in the land of dry wastelands.
A forsaken land where no one would go anymore unless they were an adventurer with no regard for their own life.
And yet suddenly, an expedition of well over a hundred people appeared there.
Bzzzt, bzzzzzt!
—Aaah. This is Sprout Team 2.
The radio—a device only recently developed and overhauled, and now being used in the field for almost the very first time—crackled harshly with static.
It almost sounded like it was threatening to explode if anyone forced it any harder.
But the girl receiving the transmission, Zeliel, expressionlessly wrung still more performance out of it.
“Confirmed. Make your report.”
It had already been a full month since she’d set out, leading an expeditionary force belonging to the Starcloud Merchant Company.
—We have detected mana that matches the young lady’s records exactly. Analysis confirms that part of the ruins is buried deep underground. We’ve sent in three breach teams.
“……I see.”
After hearing the report, Zeliel felt as though her heart might drop straight out of her chest.
“Ohhh!”
“By the gods!”
“To think it really, truly exists……!”
The archaeologists and explorers standing nearby and listening to the transmission with her grabbed one another and started dancing around in celebration.
The land of the dry wastelands swarmed with monsters, and the climate shifted so violently that this expedition had inevitably become a brutal journey.
So now that they had finally found something, there was no way not to be overjoyed.
Zeliel was no different in feeling glad.
But she forced herself to remain calm.
‘Not yet.’
So far, all they had found was the entrance leading toward the ancient ruins of Carmenset.
Baek Yuseol.
The journey that had begun because of that boy was finally starting to near its end.
Though he……
had placed the most terrible curse imaginable upon her, he was also the boy who had given her the greatest blessing she had ever wanted in her life.
“Miss Zeliel. Do you intend to enter the ruins yourself?”
“To win a game of Soul Chess against the Wraith of Carmenset that appears at the final gate…… that is the only way to obtain what I want.”
For that very purpose, she had spent her whole life mastering Soul Chess.
There might be one person in the world whom she had not been able to defeat……
but that changed nothing about the fact that she still ranked among the very best in the world.
‘I can do this.’
No.
‘I have to do this.’
She had already come so close to the destination she had spent her whole life searching for.
She could not afford to lose to Soul Chess now and fall apart at the last moment.
‘I will absolutely do this.’
Zeliel rose to her feet with firm resolve.
And unlike her usual self, a blue ghostly aura shimmered in her eyes.
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