Chapter 127
The atmosphere between Angelina and Blake became somewhat awkward.
Blake, having composed his emotions, pretended to be as calm as possible while asking several questions.
What her disease was called, what treatments she had tried so far, and so on.
Angelina also answered as calmly as possible.
It was a disease that gradually consumed the patient and eventually caused death, she said. A doctor examined her daily, but had not found a solution.
Since the content about the disease in the original story was written in just a single line, she didn’t have much to tell him, just as with Ante.
He seemed somewhat relieved when she said there was no pain, but his dark expression didn’t disappear.
After the conversation ended inconclusively, the two hadn’t had any significant dialogue for several days.
It was enough time for Angelina’s hair, which had been dyed black, to turn silver again.
The air between them was somewhat awkward, but they still held hands tightly while moving.
Both were afraid of losing each other, so neither wanted to let go.
‘Is it my imagination that he’s gripping my hand more tightly?’
Angelina felt that Blake was holding her hand more firmly.
Knowing that this wasn’t entirely for good reasons, Angelina walked silently by his side.
It might be a selfish thought, but she enjoyed just walking side by side like this. So even though she knew he was troubled, she quietly kept holding his hand tightly.
After several days of this silent practice…
“Grr?”
Pudding, who had been following closely behind the two, stopped.
It was at the same moment that Angelina and Blake stopped.
All three turned their heads in the same direction.
A moment later…
Boom-!
The ground shook.
“Keeeeek-!”
“Grrrroooar-!”
Monster cries filled the air. This time, not only could they hear the sounds, but they could also see the creatures.
“Grrr……”
Pudding immediately grew to 3m tall. With his fur puffed up, he looked even larger.
Blake hid Angelina behind him and drew his sword. His other hand still held hers as he walked slowly.
“The atmosphere is completely different now.”
Angelina walked right against his back, looking around.
The monsters were showing an attitude clearly different from those they had seen so far.
“They’re blocking the path.”
Until now, the fog and monster presence had only given off a threatening aura of ‘don’t come this way,’ but now they were completely blocking the path.
“I wonder what’s over there that we shouldn’t go to?”
“It’s not the Magic Tower.”
Rather, it was in the opposite direction from the Magic Tower. The edge of the Dark Forest…? No, it was ambiguous.
If viewed from the sky, they were probably at the opposite end of the forest from the Magic Tower, but they were still deep in the forest.
Blake and Angelina deliberately approached that direction further.
Having come close enough to be spotted by the monsters, they pondered what to do.
But their deliberation didn’t last long.
The monsters standing guard like gatekeepers spotted them as soon as they moved.
“Kieeeeek!”
“Kwaaaa!”
Monsters as large as houses crushed trees and tore up the ground.
“Don’t get separated from me.”
Blake said, gripping his sword tighter.
Just as his sword was turning black with his sword energy, a fragrant scent brushed Angelina’s nose.
“……?!”
It was a scent that didn’t belong in the Dark Forest, which was full of moss smells. Though faint, it was sweet enough to create an illusion.
“This is strange.”
“Right? It’s not just me feeling it?”
“By now, they should be attacking us without hesitation, but they’re only threatening and not intending to attack.”
Angelina, who had thought he was referring to the same scent she smelled, frowned at his response.
He was talking about the monsters…?
She raised her head to look at the huge monsters. The two monsters from earlier had already increased to four.
But as he said, though they howled loudly, they didn’t approach. They only seemed to be warning them not to come closer.
Both Angelina and Blake were fully aware that not encountering monsters on their way here was thanks to the Magic Tower Master.
For days, they had felt that he was deliberately removing dangers and guiding them elsewhere because Angelina was present.
However, the fact that monsters were now showing themselves meant they had reached a limit.
Angelina narrowed her eyes as she looked at the monsters.
Honestly, facing the monsters made her legs tremble.
But she held Blake’s hand tightly and suppressed her fear.
Relying on him, Angelina carefully examined her surroundings and discovered something.
“There’s something behind them.”
Behind the fog visible between their bodies.
The fog was thicker than anywhere else, almost like a wall.
“Something to protect in the Dark Forest……”
Blake murmured softly.
“Do you think that’s where the Blue Rose sacred object was sealed?”
“Probably……”
Angelina, who was about to answer affirmatively, felt something strange.
“……If that’s where the Blue Rose sacred object was sealed, why is it in the Dark Forest?”
She had come here vaguely because of her memories. But thinking carefully, it didn’t make sense.
“If the Dark Forest is in the Magic Tower Master’s control, why was the Order able to find the sacred object before him?”
Until coming here, she didn’t know that the Dark Forest was under the Magic Tower Master’s control. She only learned that fact from Blake after arriving.
So when coming to the Dark Forest, she was confident that the Blue Rose sacred object would be here, but now she was confused.
The original story in her memory and the current situation were mixed up.
“By that logic, it’s also strange that they’re guarding a place where the sacred object no longer exists.”
Blake, realizing that the monsters had no intention to attack, slightly relaxed his sword hand.
Pudding was still puffing up his large body and exhaling through his nose.
After thinking for a moment, Blake spoke.
“Do you know how long the Order has had the sacred object?”
“I don’t know exactly, but I believe it’s been at least 20 years… Oh.”
Angelina found the focal point of this confusion as she was answering.
“It was before the Magic Tower Master appeared.”
They found the sacred object before her brother became the Magic Tower Master. That’s why it fell into their hands before her brother’s.
With that thought, Angelina wondered.
‘When exactly did my brother become the Magic Tower Master?’
That was never mentioned in the original story.
‘Roughly… considering that rumors about the Dark Forest changing started circulating about 10 years ago, it might have been around that time…’
She couldn’t remember. She could only estimate the timing through rumors upon rumors.
‘When I entered the Dark Forest, my brother wasn’t the Magic Tower Master yet. That’s why he couldn’t find me right away when I was abandoned here…’
Now it made sense.
‘Could he have become the Magic Tower Master because of me…?’
After understanding the situation, she couldn’t help but think that.
‘Is he hiding that he’s the Magic Tower Master because he doesn’t want me to recall the memory of being abandoned in the Dark Forest…?’
No, that couldn’t be it.
‘He said it was for himself, not for me. So it’s not because he’s afraid I’ll recall the memories and suffer. Then…’
Is he afraid I’ll resent him?
What happened in the Dark Forest back then? Is there something I can’t recall?
‘If only I could remember everything from that time, it might provide a clue…’
Angelina glanced up at Blake.
‘…And I could confirm that the boy was Your Grace.’
If she could confirm that she was ‘that child’ Blake had mentioned…
But her expression darkened.
‘What’s the point of confirming it? It’s not like I can tell His Grace.’
Not only was there no way to prove that it was her, but telling the truth would only make him experience losing her twice.
He might even resent her for not telling him until now.
Of course, not remembering wasn’t her fault, but he might feel disappointed that she couldn’t remember…
With these complicated thoughts, she held his hand tightly, and he responded by pulling her closer to his back.
“If it’s not where the sacred object was sealed, what on earth are they guarding?”
Angelina, clearing away her complex thoughts, raised the question again.
“……Would you like to go see?”
Blake suggested.
“How much do you trust the Magic Tower Master, Miss Flaubert?”
It was a question asking if she thought they would be safe diving between those monsters.
“He’s someone I can trust with my back on the battlefield.”
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