༺ The First letter (11) ༻
It took a long time before Emma’s father calmed down.
Since the Saintess was away, Leto and I told him about his daughter’s rough situation. At every word, Emma’s father collapsed helplessly.
The sight of a human being falling apart, and while having such a shattered look on his face as if he will never be able to make a comeback.
It was more unbearable than I had imagined. In the end, Leto and I had to avoid his gaze with a troubled expression.
He was just staring blankly at the floor.
He couldn’t even enter the intensive care unit. It was because of hygiene issues.
Commoners couldn’t keep themselves as clean as aristocrats. Since washing and wiping the body required money, it was impossible to forcefully enter the intensive care unit when their body was unclean.
So he couldn’t even see his daughter’s face. I just hoped for him to be comforted by the fact that senior priests were treating her with all their heart.
Originally, it was hard for commoners to even see their faces. Emma’s father couldn’t let go of his last hope as he saw them as the incarnation of the Heavenly God Arus.
All of this was possible because Emma entered the academy.
In less than a day, the postal service sent news that Emma was in critical condition, and Emma’s father was able to ride an expensive warp gate to the academy at once.
But that was the only consideration the Academy could offer. The matter of life and death could only be administered by the Heavenly God.
Emma’s father, as if he was lamenting, recited his memories with her daughter. That was all he could do.
“Emma, she’s been different since she was a child… She didn’t seem like the daughter of a stupid guy like myself.”
That’s why she was able to enter the academy. Me and Leto couldn’t say anything, we just faintly groaned.
I felt like a sinner. As the Saintess said, it may not be anyone’s fault, but the guilt felt by the parties involved was a separate matter.
At least I was feeling responsible for Emma’s injury. It was inevitable.
I was the only one who could have stopped her.
Apart from my distress, Emma’s father continued to lament.
“When she was young, she lost her mother to a wolf while she was following me to dig up herbs. Nevertheless, she was very bright and polite, not resembling a child who grew up without a mother. Moreover, she remembered the characteristics of the herbs so well… I asked her to learn how to write just in case, and she memorized it in an instant.”
“…….She is a wonderful daughter.”
Perhaps, thinking that the heavy silence was unbearable, Leto responded like that.
It was a word of sympathy that anyone could say, but the countryman’s eyes turned red. He nodded vigorously.
“Yes, of course. She is a wonderful daughter. Since then, I have stopped at nothing to pay for my daughter’s books. It was hard, but seeing her read such difficult books… I couldn’t help but feel so proud of her. Then one day, she passed the academy’s entrance exam.”
Eventually, the countryman sobbed and burst into tears. Although he was a man who went through the thick and thin of life, he could only shed tears like a child in front of his beloved daughter who is hanging between life and death.
A cry that could not be squeezed echoed from within like a groan. My head lowered naturally.
I fiddled with the potion in my arms. Emma’s last legacy.
It must have been made for her father. I couldn’t help feeling that long, hard touch pressed against my palm.
“I’d rather… If I knew this would happen, I would have rather raised her as a good herbalist. This father, this ugly father, was greedy…….”
“Father.”
I called him softly before his wailing.
His tearful eyes turned to me. Without a word, I took the potion out of my arms and placed it in his rough palm.
I didn’t want to say it, but as I thought it was my duty to do so, I managed to finally say to him his daughter’s last moments.
“Emma bragged to me yesterday. She developed a potion capable of hiding one’s traces… I don’t know the principle behind it, but creating a new potion is a great achievement for an alchemist.”
The herbalist, without saying a word, looked down at the potion. As if he could see how much that tiny potion bottle was the crystallization of Emma’s dedication and effort over the years.
I conveyed to him Emma’s last words. Hoping they won’t be her last gift to her father.
“This potion will prevent many herbalists and hunters from dying and getting hurt… Please, Father, take it.”
Tears surged up again in the eyes of the countryman. The man’s tears dripped down. But at that time, he shook his head.
He pushed back the potion. Seeing my panic stricken self, Emma’s father said.
“My Lord, please keep it… It doesn’t matter if I live or die now.”
How could you say that! However, just as I was about to say that, as soon as I saw those eyes, I was struck.
He meant every word he said. Pain and despair dwelled in those sunken eyes, making them look like shattered fragments of glass.
“Esteemed Lord, please keep it … Emma, please, remember my daughter… since this poor fellow will never forget his daughter. Sob….”
The man’s howls that burst out once again continued for a long time.
Until he fainted, collapsing and then moved to his accommodation.
I dazedly put Emma’s potion back in my pocket.
I felt dizzy. I felt like I had a lump in my chest.
Leto said, after a long silence.
“……Ian, let’s go back now.”
There was no answer. My mouth was just shut tight.
Leto’s voice came out of his mouth.
“How many hours will you keep being like this? It won’t help Emma come to her senses… Let’s go back to eat and rest. We still have to live even without her. And Celine must be worried, too.”
However, I paid no attention to what he said.
I just kept thinking about the letter. The letter I casually crumpled up and threw away.
As if a thunderbolt struck me, an idea appeared in my head.
Only then did a blurry voice leak out of my closed mouth.
“……The letter.”
“What?”
Leto narrowed his brows slightly and looked at me, waiting for me to say something. I kept murmuring, lost in my thoughts without even noticing him.
“ I received a letter from seven years in the future.”
Leto’s face gradually stiffened. He began watching my expression carefully. However, I couldn’t stop talking though.
“I could have prevented all of this, Emma was attacked by a demonic beast and went into a coma… What if I told Emma, no, if I had escorted her?”
“……Ian.”
Leto’s voice resounded loudly. A rare grave tone, symbolizing even more his seriousness.. But I sprang up.
As I recalled those words, fuelled by remorse and guilt.
It was frustrating. I shook my head just like a dog drenched in rain trying to shake off the tears of water.
“If I did, I could have saved Emma. No, maybe she wouldn’t even be hurt! If I had paid more attention, if I had been a little more careful……!”
“Ian!”
In the end, Leto, who couldn’t stand it anymore, screamed. I stared blankly at him, awakened by his shout.
Leto came over to me, laid his hand on my shoulder and said with a sigh.
“Please, go get some rest… You seem to be having a hard time right now.”
Yes, I must sound crazy to people.
It was understandable. But still, that message at the end of the letter resounded in my heart.
‘If we don’t protect the future, the world will perish.’
What if it’s true?
No, it didn’t matter because I couldn’t even fathom something like the end of the world.
But what if there were more victims like Emma?
I stood up as if I was possessed and began walking. That staggering gait, before I knew it, turned into running. I heard Leto shouting from behind, but I ignored it.
I was heading toward the dormitory. From afar, I could see Celine.
She waved her hand with delight, then looked at me in wonder, as my expression was unusual.
I held Celine by her shoulders. A pale pink blush bloomed on her cheeks.
“This time again, once again, what’s wrong with you…….”
“Celine.”
Celine’s eyes opened wide at my harsh voice, which came out as I was gasping for breath. Soon her expression became serious.
I was more serious than ever before. Celine realized that, too.
“From the future, huh… I got a letter from the future. There was also a story about Emma getting hurt…….”
“……Ian oppa.”
At that feeble call, both of our eyes met.
Celine’s eyes contained distrust. A bedazzled look, as if what was in front of her was an esoteric mystery.
“Did you drink?””
When I heard that, I laughed.
Celine’s suspicions were justified. I would have thought so. But my instincts, the strange experiences that I had before and after that dream, testified to me.
What was happening was not something to just pass off as a joke.
So I ran again, leaving behind the two most trusted people in my life.
I reached the dormitory. I took out a bottle of whiskey that I had kept in the closet and poured it into a glass. The smell of strong liquor stung my nose and dug into my brain.
It didn’t matter. I drank the liquor poured in the glass right away. The liquor flowed down my throat, making my throat and stomach burn.
And after stumbling along, I turned the trash can upside down.
It had already been two weeks. However, I didn’t stay much in the dormitory, so the trash can might not have been emptied yet.
All kinds of paper waste came out.
But when I saw a luxurious letter crumpled up.
I had no choice but to burst out laughing. I immediately opened the wrinkled letter.
“To my beloved Ian Percus”
With such a first line, a myriad of content flowed out. In that flood of information, I found the phrase that I had longed for.
Come to think of it, that year’s hunting festival had a lot of accidents. It started when Emma of the alchemy faculty was found unconscious after being attacked by a mysterious beast when she went out to gather ingredients.
There it was. It was exactly what I saw.
The prophecy of Emma going to collect ingredients and then be attacked by a demonic beast has now come true.
Staggering along, my eyes scanned the letter once again.
As if I wanted to engrave each and every word in my mind, I leaned on the desk and gulped down the liquor while reading it repeatedly.
It was a love letter from the future.
I still didn’t know why it was sent to me. But my purpose was now clear.
If I don’t protect the future, the world will perish?
To be honest, it was a story that didn’t even feel real, but it’s fine now.
I’ll trust it from now on.
I still couldn’t tell if this letter was actually from the future or if it was someone’s prank.
I folded the letter and put it in my arms, vowing to keep it with me even while I was outside.
I then thought, I know what the rest means, other than one thing. An unidentifiable name.
“Then I will dream of you tonight as well. From Sepia.”
Who the hell is Sepia?
As the night deepened and I remained alone with my liquor, I had a newfound purpose.
Finding Sepia, and making contact with her.
It was the beginning of a love story to save the world.
