The Peaceful Life Of A Maid Who Hides Her Power And Enjoys It - Chapter 98
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 98
For a split second, I lost my judgment.
‘Was it… originally a burning place? Or did a fire conveniently break out?’
Scorching heat shot up into the sky.
Even though that black smoke was obscuring the clouds, I hadn’t noticed it at all when I was on the ground.
To think it could even block my vision after crossing the second wall. It truly was tremendous magic.
‘That aside, I don’t sense any human presence at all.’
It’s like dead land. The land of hell burning for eternity.
Could this place really be a sanctuary?
“What more is there to think about? It’s already too late to turn back.”
“…Mm. For once you’re saying something right.”
We passed through the garden where flames were blooming and entered the interior of the temple.
The temple’s interior was in no better condition than the outside. The inside was bright with flames that had fallen through holes in the ceiling, but fortunately it didn’t seem like it would collapse just yet.
Now what.
‘Should I look for Lu here?’
But if I find Lu… what happens after that.
-Internal intrusion detected.
That’s when it happened. A familiar voice echoed from somewhere in the ceiling.
It was the same voice I’d heard from Dian Ket’s eyeball.
-Sealing all areas and preparing automatic detonation to maintain security.
-100 seconds until automatic detonation. 99, 98…
Wait a minute.
“Automatic detonation?”
I just got in here?
Thud, thud, thud, thud.
The interior, which had been as bright as day, began to darken rapidly.
Starting from the entrance where I’d taken my first step, doors and windows were being sealed one after another.
We ran toward the front for now.
No, we tried to run.
“94, 93… What are you doing? Don’t space out and come at me. I’ll kill you as quickly as possible.”
Beyond the shimmering heat, a man with long silver hair stood as if nailed in place.
His brilliantly glowing red eyes were as menacing as a demon’s.
Sanctuary Callepha was a place that only permitted Callepha to enter.
And by anyone’s assessment, he seemed like a figure who had appeared to punish the intruder who had entered the sanctuary.
‘So that guy is the third Callepha then.’
Sharp energy pressed down on my skin.
I felt my hair standing on end from tension. It was a tension I hadn’t felt in a long time.
The Callepha with silver hair spoke.
“My mood is quite bad right now. I finally got some time off and went out peacefully. And in just half a day, some rat crawls in? This is the first time in almost 15 years.”
Shing. Andert drew his sword.
“Damn it. How annoying.”
Andert pressed his brow once firmly and pushed my body backward.
“I’ll handle this side, so you go take care of your business.”
Goosebumps rose along my forearms.
Has he lost his mind? Is he spouting the kind of bullshit only battlefield allies would say?
“What do you think I came here for?”
“What for? You call that a question? You came looking for that blue-haired crazy mage, right?”
That is correct.
“I should at least send you to that lunatic so things will be easier later. Hurry up and get lost.”
I understood his intention. But my feet wouldn’t move readily.
Why? Because Andert is my sibling.
Did he notice that I was hesitating? Andert’s black form shot toward the Callepha with silver hair.
From that moment on, hesitation became meaningless. I turned my back and headed in a different direction.
-70, 69…
The completely sealed interior was as dark as a cave. I kept my body as low as possible to avoid suffocating from the smoke, but my breathing becoming labored was unavoidable.
How long had I walked?
I had arrived at a path that was slightly different from before.
Between the long stretching passages, long cloths hung down from the ceiling. Just like when I had boarded the Rogue airship.
First cloth, second cloth, third cloth…
How many cloths had I passed through?
While running endlessly, I felt as if the ground beneath my feet was sinking.
“Huh?”
At first I thought the floor had collapsed from the fire. I tried to get away quickly, but my legs wouldn’t move.
Feeling the approaching dizziness, I closed my eyes tightly and when I opened them, another person was standing before me.
A figure who couldn’t possibly be in this place – Malicops.
[I don’t understand. What are you wandering around so desperately searching for Callepha for?]
“…Old man Malicops?”
[To retrieve Dian Ket’s diary? Or as Miss Daisy said, to bring back an outstanding mage to protect the Weatherwax Family? Or is it out of anger? Oh my, surely you don’t think that person will move according to your wishes.]
The old man’s characteristic penetrating gaze looked into me.
Malicops comforted me with an expression that understood everything, and therefore with eyes that pitied me.
[I understand. You must have gained great confidence at Sereniye Count’s Castle. That Callepha regards you as special.]
Somehow my solar plexus stung.
I had the illusion that he’d hit right on target.
‘What the hell is this annoying situation?’
I ignored the breath that went down roughly behind my neck and looked around.
The interior of Callepha, which had been blinking endlessly with red light, was not visible.
A dark space like an extinguished interior. The appearance of Malicops who couldn’t possibly be here.
Considering all points, I was probably, right now.
[That’s probably your misunderstanding. I think Callepha is simply keeping his promise with Miss Daisy, nothing more.]
“…What promise?”
[Hm? What promise, you ask? Why, the promise to bury you next to your sibling’s grave. That promise sealed with no less than a soul oath.]
‘…Promise.’
Ah, damn. I made a mistake.
‘To think I’d speak to an illusion in a mental magic trap.’
It meant I had unknowingly stepped deep into the trap.
Thanks to that, my reason became even more blurred. This is a very bad situation.
Since it’s a trap protecting Callepha, it would be difficult to break voluntarily…
[Moreover, you’ve died and come back to life, and you’re a special case with a broken soul. Callepha probably found you interesting too. From a mage’s perspective, you have infinite research value.]
“…”
[So stop the delusions there.]
“…”
[Miss Daisy. This is advice for your sake. That person doesn’t care about you one bit…]p>
CRASH!
A spine-chilling roar erupted, and my mind suddenly became clear.
The hazy smoke that had been covering my brain was swept away in an instant.
“Gasp!”
I bent at the waist and expelled the breath that had been blocked. As soon as my reason properly returned, there was a face that came to mind.
‘What about Andert?’
How many seconds are left until the explosion?
My ears were ringing so I couldn’t hear properly. I immediately gave up on finding Lu right there.
‘Andert, I need to find Andert.’
However, when I straightened my bent back, I couldn’t move my feet.
Because I realized that the surroundings were no longer dark.
I stared blankly up at the ceiling.
Above the bright night sky, rain was falling, no, shining snow, no…
‘A meteor shower.’
Stars were falling.
At this jaw-dropping spectacle, I momentarily forgot what to say, forgot all distracting thoughts, and just looked up at the sky.
I’ve lived for decades without ever seeing a single shooting star. No, it’s not just me—most people are probably the same.
Of all times, for a meteor shower to fall on a day like this, at timing like this, it felt like God’s prank.
“The alarm was a mistake. The real intruders are actually these meteors.”
It was a very natural greeting.
As I turned my gaze with a dreamlike feeling, a profile appeared, leaning against the window frame and looking up at the distant sky.
“Beautiful, isn’t it?”
Impossibly vivid blue hair disrupted my vision.
The man, more radiant than starlight, looked at me with darkly tanned, melancholy eyes.
Suddenly, I thought that Count Sereniye’s presence was nothing compared to this man.
Facing those delicate, sharp, yet fierce golden eyes, my past of thinking of this man when looking at Count Sereniye felt foolish.
There was absolutely no comparison.
“These are the meteors that fell on Astrosia’s sky 100 years ago. It was quite a spectacle when looking up, but thanks to them, forest fires spread quite a bit. Just like now.”
At first, I thought my ears were mistaken.
“100 years ago?”
The cold wind of the Northern Continent blew, shaking my hair.
I reflexively turned around. The collapsed ceiling and walls, the flames—none were visible.
No, they hadn’t disappeared. They were slowly returning to their places.
The greatly spread flames gradually grew smaller, and the collapsed walls slowly regenerated, returning to their original form.
And soon they became brilliant stars too dazzling to look at and returned to the sky.
As if time was rewinding.
‘…Ah. The alarm went off.’
Not because of me and Andert, but because of the meteors that fell on the Sanctuary.
“This is the lunar eclipse from 109 years ago.”
Beyond the restored window, the white moon that had been rising and setting repeatedly was being dyed red.
“And this is probably the full moon from 120 years ago, I think. It was the largest full moon I’ve ever seen.”
Stars and moon rotating endlessly.
Kalerpa, which had regained its form before I knew it.
The edelweiss Garden swaying white in the moonlight.
I had to ask Lu.
“Don’t tell me you’re rewinding time?”
He only smiled.
‘That’s impossible.’
Such a thing cannot exist.
Controlling time is magic that absolutely cannot exist.
Isn’t the law that humans cannot be free from the timeline as certain a truth as the law that oath engravings are carved into the soul?
‘…Is it really the truth?’
I looked into Lu’s eyes.
Here in the Northern Continent, I had met two Kalerpa like him.
Skuld, whom I met in Astrosia, was someone with an aura comparable to the Swordmaster, and Kalerpa, whom I met here in Kalerpa, was someone with a somewhat disappointing aura compared to Skuld.
But Lu is different.
I cannot see into Lu’s power.
Even though I had crossed two walls and gained the control to no longer be swayed by the sword, I still could not gauge Lu’s existence.
“Who exactly are you?”
“Me?”
Behind the smile drawn like a phantom, a huge sun rises.
There is no more night. He brought early dawn before me.
Is it an autumn sun? Or a summer sun? My eyes naturally narrowed at the intense blue radiance.
“God.”
The quietly tilted head blocks the dawn.
The rising halo spread like a painting behind Lu’s shadow.
“I am the god of the Northern Continent, Lord Caleph.”
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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