Chapter 25 - Legacy (4)

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"Hey, Hey! Edwin! Are you awake?"

"Uh, uh..." 

When consciousness returned unexpectedly, I found myself floating in a haze. What could possibly be happening?

I desperately exerted effort to recall my memories.

After a moment, I remembered swallowing Lakisia's Eye and losing consciousness. Only then did my floating spirit, which had been adrift, regain control of my body.

The first thing I did when I woke up was to grasp my surroundings; the vision that had disappeared for a moment seemed to have returned before I knew it, and I could see the shadows of the cave illuminated by the torches flickering around me.

And in front of me, there was a certain horned woman, gazing at me with concerned eyes.

"Isa...na..." 

"You recognize me? You must have finally come to your senses... I wonder what's going on..." 

"But...I'm pretty sure I said…Cough! Cough! Cough!"

As I spoke, I suddenly broke into a huge coughing fit, my eyes and skin stung, I felt a chill run down my spine, and my entire body was shaking with a fierce intensity.

Realizing that it had been quite a while since I last consumed the Holy Water, with trembling hands, I pulled a vial from my belongings; forcing the lid open, I quickly gulped down the holy water.

Only after the rejuvenating aura of the Holy Water spread throughout my body did I finally feel the demonic energy that had been gnawing at me, disappear.

I got up and leaned against the cave wall, taking a comfortable position. 

"Khuhkk...huff...Isana...I am sure I said that I would go up the mountain alone... Did you secretly follow me or something?" 

"What, follow you? Hey!! How can you look at a person and say something like that!!!" 

When I asked Isana, she shouted angrily. I thought she was secretly following me because she was suspicious of my actions, but maybe I was wrong... ? 

The worried expression she was making had disappeared somewhere, and Isana's face was filled with fierce anger instead. 

"You didn't come even though the appointment time has passed for a long time, so I had to come find you, what else could I do!!! If something happened to you, it was all my responsibility as your guide! I came here because I was worried, and this is what you say to me..."

"The appointment time has passed for a long time...?"

It seemed that this time I was really wrong. When I asked Isana carefully, she answered everything she had to answer, even though she was grumbling.

"Yes. I was supposed to see you in three hours, but even though the time has passed. So I had no choice but to go up the mountain. At first, I saw you lying on the floor of the cave, so I thought you were taking a nap and was about to kick you with my foot. But when I took a closer look, something seemed seriously wrong! Even your eyes were rolling around next to you! So, thinking something had happened, I stayed by your side, and the first thing you said when you woke up was asking if I had been secretly following you? Seriously, it's unbelievable!!"

Isana's rapid-fire words left me speechless. She had genuinely acted with good intentions, and I had unjustly doubted her.

"...I'm sorry. I think I misunderstood greatly. I really have nothing to say." 

"Fine, whatever. It's my fault for expecting anything from a Westerner. Ugh..."

It seemed like a regular apology wouldn't easily soothe her anger. I had made a mistake this time, and there was nothing I could do about it. I adjusted my posture towards Isana and lowered my head, meeting the ground and her gaze.

"Eh, eh, eh?!"

Taken aback by my sudden movement, Isana stumbled for words.

"I'm sorry. It was clearly a mistake on my part for which there is no room for excuses. Can you please forgive me?" 

"Ah...Uh...Uh...? Hey!! You say you're an aristocrat, so is it okay for you to bow like that? Ugh...fine!!! I'll forgive you, I'll forgive you! I'll forgive you, so just stop doing that!! It's a burden, you know?!"

Isana looked at my actions, clutched her chest, and took a deep breath. Judging from her expression, it seemed that her anger had subsided a bit now.

As Isana's permission was granted, I quickly returned to my original position.

"But Isana, you said there was an eyeball on the floor?"

"Uh, uh? Uh... I thought it might be yours, so I opened your eyelids, but luckily all of yours were still in place. But just in case, I put them aside here separately."

Isana, who had come to her senses, handed me something carefully wrapped in a white cloth. When I untied the knot, the cloth came undone, revealing the contents inside. 

'But no matter how I look at these, they look like my eyes…'

I took a closer look to see if Lakisia's Eye had been expelled again, but these eyeballs were clearly different from the ones I had seen earlier. Above all, this dull gray was clearly the unique color of the Reed family. 

"Isana. Is there anything strange about my eyes? The shape or color or something..." 

"Something strange? Well, I'm not a healer, so I don't know the details, but I don't think there's anything like that at all? The shape just looks normal, and the color doesn't differ from yours at all," Isana, who heard my words, brought a light nearby to confirm it, then shook her head and said.

"That's not enough... Isana. Excuse me, could you turn off the torch for a moment?"

"The torch again? ...Okay."

As Isana quickly put out the torch, the cave plunged into complete darkness.

I opened my eyes wide and focused the mana within my body toward my eyes, circulating it. Then, the scenery within the cave started to become clear in my vision, even in the darkness.

'It's not as bright as during the day, but it's clearly visible.'

I looked around in wonder and admired the scenery of the cave. After a while, a tingling pain struck my eyes, and as I withdrew the mana, my vision returned to the darkness.

I asked Isana to light the torch again, leaned against the wall, and pondered for a moment.

'Is there a limit to the duration? Or…'

Seeing that I could suddenly see in the dark, it seemed likely that Lakisia's Eye had somehow become fixed on me. However, judging by the short duration when I used that ability, it seemed that my proficiency was still lacking.

Even so, the ability of the hidden item shouldn't last for such a short time. I need to continuously use it and improve the ability. I recalled the events just before I fainted. Acquiring an item with excellent performance was undoubtedly satisfying, but the situation that unfolded was completely unexpected.

I couldn't have anticipated that the method for equipping the item involved removing my original eyes and attaching it in their place – a brute-force approach that I hadn't considered. Recalling the intense pain I felt earlier, my body shuddered involuntarily.

'Next time I use an item I'm not familiar with, I'll have to be fully prepared.'

This time, I was lucky and was able to resolve the situation without major problems, there's no guarantee it won't happen again.

While I was lost in thought, Isana quietly approached me and carefully asked a question while looking at me, "Um... I've been curious for a while, and I noticed you were holding back. Now that you seem to be feeling better, I wanted to ask..."

"Curious about something?"

In response to my question, Isana unleashed a barrage of inquiries, as if she had been waiting for the opportunity.

"Yeah. How did you know about these things here? This place is practically our backyard, and I've explored this cave dozens of times, but I never imagined finding these hidden items. How did you, someone not even from our race, know about these things? And these clothes, staff, rosary... they don't seem to be ours. What exactly are these items?"

Was that the reason she kept glancing in this direction? I couldn't come up with a suitable answer to the question of how I knew about the items here. It wasn't the kind of thing she could comprehend.

But can I answer the question of what the items really were... ?

After thinking about it for a while, I came to the conclusion that it would be better to answer that level of curiosity.

I didn't need to reveal everything, but withholding too much information wouldn't positively impact our relationship.

"I can't answer the question about how I knew this place, but I think I can tell you the identity of the items. These are Relics left by the saintess of the first Hero's party."

"What...? The first Hero's party...? The saintess...?"

"Yes. The heroes who defeated the Great Demon that appeared in this world in ancient times. You've probably heard about it, too, right? It's not entirely unrelated to your race. The mana that erupted from the body of that defeated great demon is what covers the Eastern Continent today, and your race was born from that mana."

"No, of course I've heard of it...but really...?"

Isana, who listened to my words, seemed skeptical. It was natural for her to find it hard to believe something right in front of her that was associated with legendary beings.

"Well, whether you believe it or not is up to you. Anyway, the reason I'm here is to return these Relics that have been sleeping after losing their owners to their original place. The random items that came along are just extras. Oh, and a piece of advice: even if your Master doesn't know, I recommend not spreading this fact to people around you. Unnecessary troubles might arise. Now that I've given all the explanations I can, let's stop here for today. I'll be waking up early tomorrow, so you should get some sleep as well."

I left Isana, who was still deep in thought, and lay down and went to sleep. 

As soon as I laid my body on the floor, sleepiness swept over me in an instant, and I, who was soaked in fatigue, fell asleep without even having time to think about anything else. 

And on this day, I dreamed that I was being thanked by a woman with bright white hair, wearing a white tunic, with a halo shining through the back of her head.

If you want to read the first 25 chapters for free and read up to the final chapter for a cheap price patreon.com/Makima02