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Chapter 17 – Helkainis
While groaning in Jiwoo’s arms, Helka lost consciousness.
Jiwoo shook his shoulder in embarrassment, but he showed no sign of waking up.
His long black hair, which was fluttering in the air due to the rising miasma, also subsided. Come to think of it, it was unusual.
Dark hair was not a color easily seen in their race, the ‘children of Elandos’. Most of them had blond or silver hair, but even if not, she observed only light shades mixed with other colors like Lanceil.
It was the first time she had seen such intense black hair, as dark as ebony. The reason Jiwoo recognized him as a black figure was because of the black mist that surrounded him with a vicious force. However, the fog cleared and what was visible inside was also a black-clad man.
Jiwoo, who looked at the sweat-drenched long black hair, possessed, suddenly came to her senses and looked up at Callandein.
“Is he okay?”
However, their group, including Callandein, was noticeably relieved.
“…He has been screaming that he’s going to die for the past few days. It’s the first time he has fallen asleep like this.”
“Then please help him up.”
“Oh, I’m sorry.”
Jiwoo was almost completely crushed by Helka.
A couple of them lifted Helka from Jiwoo. The pressure disappeared and a sigh could come out. When Helka’s groans disappeared, the surroundings were quiet.
They were all holding their breath and watching the scene.
The number of people increased compared to before, and it seems that a few people who had been in other places joined here.
Callandein asked Jiwoo, raising her up.
“Would there be anything needed for the treatment process?”
“Are you going to ask me for this favor?”
“If possible… I’d like to ask you for a favor, maybe we all think so.”
Callandein said so and looked behind him. The other people behind him also looked at Jiwoo, nodding their heads.
Some were still apprehensive, but the tense atmosphere had softened a lot. The feeling of exclusion that she felt when she first came here is gone.
That’s how Helka seemed important to them.
“I think we need a closed space for now. It will be in trouble if the miasma bounces back like before. I hope it’s not too narrow and not too wide.”
“All right.”
Callandein briefly went away from Jiwoo and exchanged simple words with the group. And three or four people helped Helka and dragged him away. They were so nervous that they didn’t say a word. Jiwoo said as if nothing was a big deal, patting the clothes dirty with the dust.
“Can I ask who he is?”
* * *
Helkainins. They called him Helka.
“Helka is a great mage in our region. He’s such a…”
Callandein, who was explaining, sighed once.
“He came to be like this because he took on all the contamination of our original home.”
“Are you talking about the contamination created by the beasts?”
“That’s right. Before that, I should first explain where we lived, Akarna.”
The ‘Children of Elandos’ are born in Elandos. And they served one Elandos forever until they would wither.
But they didn’t have a proper Elandos. So they had no choice but to be vulnerable to the damage of the beast…
Jiwoo had no choice but to stop before Callandein could explain further.
“What is Elandos?”
“Oh, I’m sorry. Elandos is our sacred tree. To put it more simply, it can be described as a guardian who takes care of us, a tree with spiritual powers.”
“Ahh…”
“Do you understand?”
Jiwoo nodded. In fact, even when she first saw Lanceil, she thought that the appearance of his race itself was familiar.
Long ears. Pretty looks. Even the familiarity with the forest.
“Where I lived, people like you were called elves.”
It wasn’t real, but it wasn’t completely unfamiliar. They didn’t look exactly the same, but they looked similar.
“What does it mean?”
“Well. Beautiful, nature-loving beings who are good at archery. Stuff like that.”
“Pfft.”
Callandein laughed lightly.
“To be attributed positively, isn’t that nothing but an illusion?”
“Then can I call you that?”
‘Children of Elandos’ was too much of a mouthful.
“Do as you please. Wouldn’t anything be better than ‘pointed ears’?”
This time Jiwoo laughed.
“A group of people share the same Elandos. We grow out of the same tree.”
“Then are you all brothers?”
“Sort of like that. Helka is the eldest brother in that way. The age difference is a bit big.”
It was a really easy to understand explanation. And she seemed to understand why they were so attached to Helka.
As a result, she has one more question.
Because all the thirty or so people in this town were men. She thought only sons were born.
“Aren’t women born?”
“Ah… there is, but it’s very rare. When Elandos is fully mature, only one is born.”
When she heard that, Jiwoo felt a little sorry for them. She had a bad impression about them at first. She had completely misunderstood them.
The story seemed to be a bit spotty here and there, so Callandein coughed a couple of times.
“I’ll just tell you the gist. Our Elandos is sick. Before Elandos completely withered, Helka carried all the energy of the contaminated land into his body and came over here. Because we couldn’t let that energy spread throughout the land.”
So in other words, they were effectively outcasts of their original homeland, meaning that Helka was a walking contaminant. Judging by the saying that he has become ‘like that’, it seems that Helka’s original outward features were not so dark.
“Helka was prepared to die, but if there is a way we can save him, of course we want to save him.”
“You said you’d reward me.”
“Yes.”
“What do you think I’ll ask for?”
“…Whatever it takes, I’ll try my best. I’ll make sure you don’t feel like you’re lacking. As I said before, Hellkainis was an excellent mage in our homeland. There are many things he can do for you.”
Jiwoo picked up the teacup she had not even touched yet. A fragrant liquid ran down her throat, and Jiwoo slowly put what she had already decided from when she saw Helka into words.
“Alright.”
Callandein’s expression brightened.
“I promise with our Elandos.”
In fact, she did not expect any special compensation for erasing the miasma. What great treasures do they, who are nothing more than exiles, would have?
However, this seemed to be a way to cut herself off from the empire.
If successful, she wanted to ask them to hide her from the empire. She didn’t want to go back there. She hated the temple even more. She didn’t want to go back to the human world and live under the status system.
If she collapsed, she’d die, and there would be nothing else other than death.
Just like how she gave up her life without holding on as the carriage overturned, her mindset hasn’t changed much between the time she wished for death and now.
No, it didn’t matter if she just died.
* * *
After finishing preparations, Jiwoo was guided to the space where Helka was locked up. This home was an old tree several times larger than the house where Jiwoo stayed last night.
Perhaps this too was hollow inside, so it seemed to have become a habitable space.
She thought they would make a special space, but from the outside, it just looked like their ordinary dwelling place.
Callandein explained.
“So that Helka wouldn’t run rampan… No, I mean, so that he’d have more space, he originally moved out of this place.”
“Then is this where Helka originally lived?”
“Yes. The reason he chose a familiar place is because when he runs rampant… There’s a bit of a beast-like side…”
Hmmm. Anyway, his mind was so unstable to the point where he couldn’t communicate, so that means he picked a place where he would be less unstable.
“As soon as you enter, there will be a barrier from the outside. As you requested, it will last for a day or so. Until then, no one can leave or come in. Then signal when you finally made it in. We will prepare the barrier to be closed.”
As Jiwoo was preparing his heart, a familiar person approached. It was Lanceil.
“Akarna.”
“Yes?”
He seemed to have been in a different place and had just come back after a call. Beside him stood Tevon.
“I’ve heard the story from Callan.”
“Yes.”
“You mean you can treat Helka just like you treated me? Really?”
“Yes.”
Lanceil looked very complicated. He seemed confused as to whether or not to rejoice in this.
“When you treat me… At that time, I know you bled heavily. Can you promise that you won’t be in any danger?”