Limited Extra Time - Chapter 53

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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“A taboo? No, not quite…”

Periel Kalos exhaled softly. It was a story anyone knew if they had formally studied art or held even a passing interest in the field.

But Carina Leopold, having lived such a confined existence, knew precious little.

Few visitors would have passed through her world, and consequently, the information she encountered had naturally dwindled. Still, Periel Kalos did not believe her parents had offered her such explanations when they showed her paintings.

I never thought he would have given her such an explanation when she showed him the picture.

‘If only they had shown her even a modicum of interest…’

Had they merely assigned her a single art tutor, she would not have remained ignorant of this knowledge even now.

“It’s rarely used, and when it is, it almost always results in instant death, so it seems you wisely refrained from touching it… but…”

Nothing in this world is absolute.

Still, it was knowledge worth her understanding.

Carina Leopold stood at the threshold of this world, yet knew nothing of it.

“Let me first explain the definition of artist’s blight to you.”

Periel Kalos gestured toward the chair before the easel. Carina Leopold stood vacant for a moment before his hand guided her into the seat.

‘…I wanted to paint.’

I wanted to capture the beautiful shimmer I had discovered in his eyes.

It was such a captivating vista—had I lingered just a moment longer, I would have been utterly entranced.

As she smacked her lips, Periel Kalos laughed.

“You can paint later.”

“Ah… yes.”

Caught off guard by having her thoughts read, Carina Leopold lowered her head and answered. Anyone could see it in her eyes—that turbulent mixture of desire and suspicion.

What she was thinking in this very moment.

“If we trace the root of art sickness, it’s not truly an illness in the conventional sense—rather, it’s the act of transcending one’s limits through sacrifice.”

“Transcending one’s limits…”

“The miracles we invoke through art have boundaries. Even I cannot heal wounds beyond a certain severity, nor can I force treatment upon someone unwilling to receive it.”

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Periel Kalos moved his lips with measured calm. Carina Leopold blinked at words she had never heard before.

“This isn’t widely known—in fact, I suspect no one else knows of it. Regardless, the difference between those afflicted with art sickness and those who aren’t lies precisely here. The presence or absence of a limit.”

Carina Leopold nodded at Periel Kalos’s words. As her eyes grew more serious, he opened his mouth once more.

“However, even so, there are impossibilities depending on individual ability. Rather than calling it a limit, it’s truly a difference in maximum capacity.”

“I see…”

“Among these, we possess what we call taboos. The kind where invoking a single miracle costs you everything you possess.”

At Periel Kalos’s measured voice, Carina Leopold drew in a sharp breath. Even Wister had never told her this. Of course, it was so obvious to him that he simply hadn’t thought to mention it.

“Yes.”

“First, you must not defy providence.”

“Providence?”

“Yes—resurrecting the dead, reversing time, and such. Changing what has already been determined through miracles falls under this category.”

Periel Kalos was utterly grave. As Carina Leopold listened to his voice, she nodded once more. She couldn’t fathom why he was suddenly broaching this subject, but there seemed no harm in learning.

“The second is… actually, this applies only to the Creators.”

“Yes.”

“They’re creating humans.”

At Periel Kalos’s words, my spine stiffened with a sharp, audible tension.

My hand, resting on my thigh, clenched into a fist as I studied Periel Kalos’s eyes intently.

“Plants, animals, magical beasts—those matter little. But humans are God’s creations. Humans are the sole creation permitted to the divine. One must never transgress into the domain of God.”

“….”

“Creating humans is the same whether you fabricate new ones or clone existing ones.”

“…Yes.”

I answered in a low voice, then fell silent. Periel Kalos observed me quietly for a moment before exhaling a short sigh. I couldn’t know what thoughts occupied his mind, but I could only hope that I had never transgressed such a taboo.

“The final taboo concerns using miracles to take lives.”

“To take lives?”

“Yes. As you can see, miracles are truly extraordinary abilities.

But you must never use them to kill.”

The taboos were not numerous, yet it was abundantly clear that any violation would spawn countless complications.

As I nodded, Periel Kalos smiled.

“…What happens if one breaks a taboo?”

“Typically, the price one carries vanishes on the spot. In other words,

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you die… or lose the ability to create art forever.”

“What if someone without the Art Affliction breaks a taboo?”

“They have limitations, so such an act becomes impossible for them in the first place.”

There has never been one before either, Periel Kalos added, and Carina Leopold fell silent.

In other words, those afflicted with Art’s Curse would have their limits shattered, only to gain overwhelming power once more.

“The reason a taboo remains a taboo is that human bodies like ours cannot pay the price for such ability.”

“…I see.”

“There are records of those who attempted to turn back time, or those who tried to resurrect the dead. All of them lost their limbs or their sight.”

She nodded slowly.

I had never imagined such stories existed.

A taboo. That such a thing could exist. My expression grew darker still.

“Carina Leopold.”

“Yes.”

“Have you perhaps attempted any of the taboos I just mentioned?”

At Periel Kalos’s words, Carina Leopold closed her mouth.

She remained silent for a long while before slowly shaking her head.

“No.”

Hearing the words spill out with frustration, Periel Kalos’s eyes narrowed.

But if that were not the case… then her abnormally rapid progression of Art’s Curse made no sense whatsoever.

“Are you certain?”

“…Yes.”

Long eyelids descended, casting deep shadows.

Periel Kalos pressed his hand to his brow.

If she hadn’t violated the taboo, then what on earth was the problem?

‘Then again… if she had broken the taboo, the fact that she’s alive would be a miracle in itself.’

Periel Kalos stroked his chin thoughtfully.

There was no record of any Creator surviving after breaking a taboo. For them, life itself was the price.

Of course, since records were scarce, he couldn’t say with absolute certainty.

“The reason the Creators died young was because they performed too many miracles and paid a tremendous price for it. You know that, don’t you?”

“Yes.”

“But they performed miracles at least once a day for years—sometimes as many as a dozen years or more.”

Carina Leopold’s eyes widened.

She looked at Periel Kalos with a slightly bewildered expression. He met her wavering gaze and continued.

“They felt pleasure in completing their works and considered performing miracles a glory. It seems they grew restless if they didn’t do it for even a single day.”

After they descended into madness, it only grew worse.

And so their lives were consumed faster, and they died faster. That’s why none of them lived past thirty.

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“Artworks created through miracles disappear, so very few of their works remain.”

Periel Kalos explained.

“In truth, humans can live at least seventy years without major accidents. For the Creators, those seventy years were quite literally fuel for miracles.”

Using it relentlessly every single day over years and decades—of course it would wear away.

Life is not infinite, and they

used that finite resource without hesitation.

“But Carina Leopold is far too fast.”

Periel Kalos voiced the question that had troubled him most.

“If the paintings she created to bring about miracles number fewer than two hundred, that would be among the rarest occurrences even among the Creators recorded throughout our entire history.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“No matter how miraculous the power that transcends human capability, a life does not wither away so

swiftly from merely that.”

No Creator has ever died at twenty.

Of course, there was one who died faster than that, but it was because they created works with frenzied madness in such a short span of time.

Excluding that Creator who descended into madness, there had never been one whose life was consumed so rapidly.

A life would not vanish from merely two hundred paintings.

“That is why I asked. I wondered if perhaps you had ever transgressed a taboo.”

Periel Kalos slowly raised his head and met her gaze once more.

Carina Leopold simply lowered her head in silence, offering no words.

Watching her sit quietly with her lips sealed, Periel Kalos exhaled a short breath.

“I see. Then I must search a bit further to uncover any other causes.”

“If you find the reason, do you think I could recover, Periel Kalos?”

“…”

Her voice, drifting like mist rising faintly over a tranquil Lakeside, held not a single tremor of disturbance.

At her serene demeanor, posed at an angle and speaking so quietly, Periel Kalos found himself momentarily at a loss.

“Be honest with me.”

“…The likelihood is low.”

“Among those called Creators throughout history,

has there ever been a survivor?”

“…”

Periel Kalos’s words caught in his throat.

As no answer came no matter how long she waited, Carina Leopold let out a deliberately soft laugh.

“Periel Kalos, I have one more request.”

“…A request? I’m afraid I can’t accommodate any more difficult requests like asking me to hide things from Millaiyen Pestellio.”

Periel Kalos added with a bitter smile. For him, simply fabricating lies for his close friend’s sake was already a considerable compromise.

It was an even greater concession because Carina Leopold’s resolve was firm and she was earnestly contemplating every possible way to avoid hurting Millaiyen Pestellio.

“It shouldn’t be such a difficult task. Of course, you’re free to refuse.”

“What is it?”

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“I want to leave ‘Carina’ behind in this world.”

She spoke very slowly, adding to her words.

Through receiving letters and writing replies, through painting, she had come to understand it gradually. If she would eventually be forgotten even by her family, then she would become someone who could never be forgotten.

She possessed such power. She had the talent.

A double-edged sword given by God—a beautiful miracle wrought at the cost of life itself.

Each time she wrought a miracle, she wanted to imprint that golden-hued landscape upon the world.

So that even when that golden light faded someday, her image would remain eternal.

“I want to leave behind the name of a person called Carina—not Carina Leopold, not the eldest daughter of the Leopold Family, not Abelia’s older sister… just Carina.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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