Chapter 128
While Eki was floundering, Ikelid naturally pulled his hood over his head and said with a smile,
“Miss Eki, then I’ll be on my way. Ah, if you see Cassius, could you pass along a message for me? That guy was so out of his mind after you collapsed that he wouldn’t even listen to what I was saying.”
“Y-Yes?”
“It’s just a simple favor.”
Strangely, no one else seemed to recognize him. It looked like some kind of magic had been cast on the hood. Ikelid continued speaking as he strolled leisurely through the crowd of Eki’s relatives and acquaintances.
“Ask him if he can serve as acting Association Head until a new archmage appears, once I die.”
“What?!”
Die? Ikelid Lagus?
Ah, well, he was five hundred years old, so it was about time, wasn’t it. No matter how much lifespan extension magic he used, he was still human.
But was it really alright to drop such an enormous revelation on her all of a sudden? And on top of that, to hand over the position of acting Association Head to her master?!
“Association Head, wait a moment!”
“Association Head? What are you talking about? Was the Association Head here?”
Eki’s parents and friends looked around for Ikelid, but he had already left the hospital room, having used a perception blocking spell. Eki reached out hesitantly, then pulled her hand back.
She had no idea what was going on anymore.
❖ ❖ ❖
‘I didn’t know Cassius was that serious about Miss Eki.’
Ikelid walked lazily down the hospital ward corridor.
Before long, he reached a sparsely used stairwell and pushed open the iron door leading to the balcony. The cold outside air swept refreshingly through Ikelid’s dark blue hair. With a picture perfect smile, he gazed up at the reddish sky as the sun slowly sank.
‘If I’d known he’d react that seriously, maybe I shouldn’t have given that advice.’
Telling him to resolve the effects of the luck potion through desire. Hadn’t Cassius glared at him as if he wanted to smash his head open the moment he heard that? At the time, Ikelid thought he was just embarrassed, but it seemed there had been quite a tangle of complicated emotions mixed in.
Ikelid rummaged through his coat and took out a thick cigar. He lit it with practiced ease, put it in his mouth, and recalled what had happened the night before.
‘Huaaam, Cassius. What is it? Calling me at this hour of the night…’
‘Forget small talk. Eki is sick right now, so come to the Thousand Tower immediately.’
‘What? How is she sick?’
‘She saw what’s underground. The mana inside her body is completely tangled up. This is something even I can’t fix. So hurry!’
The Cassius speaking then was drenched in fear. Ikelid, who had watched him from the time he was a tiny dragon hatchling snapping angrily at him to now, when he was a full grown dragon doing the same, stared blankly at the communicator at a voice he’d never heard even once since their first meeting.
There was no time to think. Ikelid immediately used a teleportation device and rushed to the Thousand Tower.
When he arrived, his surprise turned into bewilderment.
‘What is this now?’
The interior was in shambles. Something that was neither slime nor tentacles filled the first floor to the brim, and if he hadn’t flown up on a magical device, he wouldn’t have even been able to get inside.
Cassius seemed to have somehow made it up to his room. When Ikelid entered through the bedroom window, Cassius was holding Eki, who was vomiting blood profusely, and he was muttering incantations.
The moment he saw Ikelid, Cassius lunged at him.
‘How long will it take to get to the Association?’
‘At best, twenty minutes.’
‘Go as fast as you can. And explain to Eki what happened.’
‘This happened because of the dragon hearts, right?’
‘…Yes.’
Cassius’s silver cheeks and hands, covered in overlapping scales, were both stained red with Eki’s blood. As if he wanted to stroke Eki one last time, he reached out to her, then stepped back.
Even the back of Cassius’s neck, heaving with his ragged breaths, showed no human skin because of the scales. If Ikelid had been even a few seconds later, the polymorph would have broken.
‘Cassius, you…’
‘I told you to take her and go.’
‘Alright. Don’t worry. I will make sure Miss Eki survives.’
After that, there was nothing much to it.
Unable to even exchange proper words with Cassius under the crushing pressure, Ikelid took Eki and left.
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