#4. Rooms of Locralena
Ifrin lay on the bed and stared up at the ceiling.
In a world where time stopped, there was no sound, no smell, no dynamics, so it looked like an empty space.
Overflowing with the energy of time, Lokralen simply froze.
Tick-tock!
Ifrin was busy only counting the time in her mind. If she doesn't do this, she won't be able to sense the passage of time.
Tick-tock!
Tick-tock!
Silence like this drives people crazy. There is a feeling that you are floating in the outer space of the universe. Even though you are breathing, sometimes your chest is tight, as if there is nothing to breathe.
However…
- Professor.
In a space where everything was frozen, there was still someone who could move. It is worth calling him, as loneliness and silence disappear, and you can again breathe deeply.
- What?
When he answered, Ifrin smiled softly.
In the chair next to her bed sat another mage, contemplating a magical formula. Her teacher, Declain.
- I'm curious. You've been hiding in the cabin all this time, haven't you?
- Yes, in the teacher's hut ...
Rohakan's hut.
The Professor, the first to awaken from his hibernation after the "destruction", hid in the place left by Rohakan. In this magical hut, which in the morning can be in the desert, and in the evening already in the north.
Ifrin laughed softly.
- Well, you need to hide somewhere from persecution ... but don't you wonder how the continent has changed over the years?
"I don't think people have changed," Declain replied with indifference in his voice.
Such Declain seemed to Ifrin a little unfamiliar. Of course, he was always cold, but this indifference in his voice was very different from before.
- ... by the way, professor. Do you know how many days have already passed?
Ifrin quickly changed the subject by asking a random question.
- 108 hours 13 minutes 35 seconds.
Declain responded instantly.
Even Ifrin, who kept track of time, was amazed at such accuracy.
- Uh... well...
Suddenly, an ominous sense of inconsistency swept through Ifrin's mind. Looking at Declain with a very worried face, it felt some unexpected emotion...
Frightening anxiety.
- Professor.
When she called him, he silently turned his head. He seemed to already know all about her worries.
She hadn't told him yet, but he already knew.
- Professor…
"Ifrin, I have learned the truth," Declain said.
Ifrin shuddered. She lifted her head and looked into his eyes.
- ...
At this point, her fears were confirmed.
Now his eyes, the depth of the pupils of which is difficult to describe, shone with a kind of otherworldly brilliance. That ripple of "energy" that surpassed any human's magical power sent goosebumps all over her body.
- As you know, I'm dying. With the enlightenment I achieved at death's door, everything around me became easy to understand.
As Declain continued to speak, Ifrin's face darkened little by little. The pupils in her wide eyes quivered, as did her lips.
- The ability to "understand" the world and causality has become a force that develops on its own.
On the other hand, a smile appeared on Declain's lips. As if comforting Ifrin, he spoke in a gentle tone that he had never shown before:
- In the end, she will even absorb my ego, trying to understand everything around me regardless of my will.
Then he extended his hand. His soft fingers ran over her lashes and caressed her cheeks.
- Ifrin, giants could not coexist with humans. You know why?
He said it with warmth in his voice, but for Ifrin it was sad words.
- ...yes.
Ifrin nodded her head. Even such a short answer, she gave a trembling voice. A wave of pain filled her chest, but she still endured and continued:
- A sage... can never be happy.
Ifrin knew this.
A person who knows everything cannot be happy.
Wisdom never makes people happy.
The happiest person in the world is the most ignorant, and the most miserable person is probably "the one who knows everything."
- Right.
Declain smiled brightly as he replied.
- Means…
Ifrin pursed her lips and grunted, pretending that she was just a little offended, and nothing happened:
No matter how hard I try, it's useless. The professor is no longer...
Love between a man and a giant is impossible. Just because giants can't love people. Just like humans can't love ants. If so, is the man named Ifrin now just an ant to Declan?
- Not.
Suddenly he shook his head.
Knowing her feelings, he replied:
- I can still look at you with a clear look. I can look at you, my student, as "I".
- …how are you"?
- Yes.
- ...
Ifrin hesitated, she reached into the pockets of her robes and pulled out the woodsteel. The blade that the professor once gave her.
Holding it in her hand, she asked:
- Then... Who are you? Who "you" are?
Ifrin after a long time experienced a mild sense of shame.
She had already grown and grown to the status of an archmage, but in front of Declain, she again became a young, stupid Ifrin, who at that time always made mistakes.
- Haha...
Decline chuckled slightly.
- I am what you see.
- …a? Are you the one I see?
- Yes. What you always saw is me. You've been watching me all this time.
- ...
Ifrin didn't understand what that meant, but she wasn't upset. Because those words seemed nice.
“From beginning to end,” Declain added.
From the beginning, when Kim Woojin was still trying to assimilate with Declain, until now, when Declain and Kim Woojin became one.
- Ifrin, you were always there.
Ifrin is the only one who has been in this gradually changing life from beginning to end.
So what you see is me.
- ...
Of course, Ifrin didn't know the depth of Declan's words, but she accepted them anyway.
What do they mean to her? Just like Declain said, she's the one who shared the beginning and the end with him. She is such a precious person in his life.
- …Professor, do you remember the past?
Ifrin showed wood steel in one hand and a wand in the other.
- These are the most expensive things for me.
Wood steel and wand in both hands.
- And this too.
She also had a bracelet on her wrist. It was broken, but it was the memory of her father.
- Come closer, look.
- Hm.
Pretending to show him better, she wrapped her arms around the neck of Declain, who had come closer, and buried her face in his chest.
However, the professor did not panic. He just casually asked:
"...I thought you hated him."
How can you not hate the father who abandoned her, the father who used her?
But it wasn't.
- I can't hate him. He is still my father.
Ifrin now knew. The past is up to her.
After all, all "real" things are in the present.
- How can I hate the person who gave birth to me? He is the father who gave me this world.
Ifrin looked at Declain's face, still hugging him tightly.
There was clear confusion on his face. Was he holding back the power of [Understanding] now? Or maybe it was a feeling that even he couldn't understand?
Thanks to my father...
He had an unusually embarrassed look that was cute, so Ifrin smiled happily.
- I can love you now. The way you are.
Ifrin innocently confessed her love.
#5. 1 year
1 year.
The promised time flew by quickly.
The energy of time in Locralen was still frozen, but their time had flown by.
“Although I have become an archmage, I still have a lot to learn.
Unfortunately, in a space where time stands still, there was not much to do.
They couldn't grow things together here, they couldn't do something fun together... or could they? Let it be a secret.
However, in a world where it was only the two of them, in silence where nothing moved, Ifrin was still happy.
Her passion never faded.
- That's how? Decline replied.
Now the two of them were sitting side by side in the archives of Lokralen's basement, writing down something.
- Yes. I can't finish my story. I don't know how Sylvia wrote her book so well.
Ifrin started writing three months ago. It was a diary and a novel at the same time. It was sort of an autobiographical story.
- Wanna take a look, professor?
Writing is an activity she could share with her professor. Thanks to this, she could share her thoughts expressed in the text with the professor.
- There is very little left, but I still can’t do it ...
However, she had problems with the ending.
With an ending that was well known to Declain, herself, and everyone else.
The final with the inevitable "farewell".
Eventually, she and Declain would break up.
The ending, which was obvious, was never written.
More precisely, she had no desire to finish it.
"Are you neglecting the study of magic?" Decline said.
Ifrin narrowed her eyes.
- … don't be like Demakan. As they say, there is a limit to achievements and enlightenment.
“The only people who say that are those who can’t go beyond their limits, no matter how hard they try.
- I apologize?
It's been a year now and she still can't get used to being treated like this, like she was a child.
Although that doesn't mean she was upset. As soon as she returns to the continent, she will again become an archmage, standing above others.
So those moments were precious.
- Hmph.
She snorted and grabbed a pencil, then asked with a smirk:
- Is your theory complete?
- Yes.
She asked this to change the subject, however...
Declain responded immediately. As if expecting this, he handed her the already bound book.
- I finished last night. You can take a look.
Ifrin looked at the cover.
[Particles of time].
In the eyes of other people, it was more like the title of a novel than a theory of magic.
- ...yes, show me.
But once you open the first page and read the introduction, you will immediately understand.
Indeed, Declain's intellect has already gone beyond the human. He became a giant.
“We will simply destroy these particles of time…”
The essence of his theory was simple enough to be summarized in one sentence, but it was so shocking and audacious that it turned the laws of the world upside down.
- It's a pretty simple idea.
It was a little sad, but Ifrin smiled with confidence in her eyes.
- Good. Ifrin, only your talent can do this. Only you can influence time.
Declain's theory was ultimately the maximization of Ifrin's talent. She will fragment and destroy the time energy of the Caydesite in Locralen with "giant scale" time magic.
Another miracle from a human point of view.
“Yes, I can do it,” Ifrin said.
She confidently stated this without even reading the entire theory.
- It will take some time to fully understand everything, but your theories are always perfect, so there will be no problems.
At that moment, Declain's lips twitched. He must have liked her self-confidence.
- So that…
Ifrin rested her head on Declain's shoulder, who was sitting next to him. Declan didn't protest.
- …three months? she said carefully.
Then she wrapped her arms around his waist.
- Hmm...
But again she felt anxious. It would be too selfish to spend this time waiting for reciprocal love. By then, Declain's power may have gotten the better of him.
- No, a month ...
“Three months is a good time.
She tried to shorten the time, but Declain interrupted her. Ifrin looked up in surprise.
- …are you sure? Three months?
He smiled.
- I can handle. Because you will be there.
At that moment, Ifrin rushed to his lips. Like a warlike and aggressive rhinoceros…
#6. 3 months
For three months, Ifrin studied Declan's theory, eventually fully understanding it.
Since Declain's theory was designed specifically for Ifrin, everything from the logic behind it to how magic is formed was easy to understand.
- Well…
Now they could leave this place. Ifrin, being an archmage in his prime, can realize this miracle. Hundreds of years will be reduced to just one year and three months.
However…
If we break up like this...
Ifrin stood next to Declain.
She had a sad expression on her face, and she looked at him, not hiding her regret.
- Can I see you again?
She already missed every moment they spent here and didn't want to let Declain go.
- I can't just give up.
A year and three months were imprinted in the heart of Ifrin.
“Professor… do you really have to die?”
- ...
Declain looked at her silently. Looking at the face of Ifrin, who has matured, he replied:
- I want to die like a man. Like you, like me, like anyone else...
He didn't want to be consumed by his own power [Understanding], he wanted to sleep comfortably like Declain and Kim Woojin.
- ...
Understanding his feelings, Ifrin wept softly as she took a step towards him.
- …Professor.
Ifrin lifted her head and looked at him from a distance where her nose almost touched his chest.
- Time is a man's friend. It helps a person to forget all sorrows.
As an archmage who once dealt with time and still controlled it, Ifrin did not hate time.
“So… when many days and years pass and my hair turns gray…”
She suddenly remembered what Declain had said a year ago.
Words that she shared the beginning and the end with him.
- Can I forget you?
The same goes for him.
He had been with her since her foolish youth.
The teacher who taught her about magic, relationships, life, emotions and who she is.
- Emotions overwhelm my heart when I just look at you.
He had come to Lokralen to spend time with her even in his last moments. The rest of his time he spends on her.
- ... will I be able to forget you?
He was her hero.
The person Ifrin loves the most.
- Can I really forget you?
Can time alone erase it?
Declain was silent for a while, and then he put his hand on the top of her head and said:
- You've grown a lot.
At his words, Ifrin involuntarily nodded her head.
Because she has really grown since then. She is no longer what she was in those carefree days.
“Your thinking has changed, but you still seem stupid to me.
- Hah…
Ifrin smiled involuntarily.
Indeed, this was the only person who could now call her stupid.
- Time has changed you. You are so mature.
- Ah...
Adult.
For Declain, it might just have been a randomly thrown word, but Ifrin took it a little differently. Because Declan said it. There was a big difference between the fact that she considered herself an adult, and the fact that he considered her an adult.
“You have become a responsible mage.
The hand on the top of her head moved smoothly.
Could this love be more than just an illusion?
Nonetheless…
- You are my student. This fact will not change. No matter how much time has passed.
Calling her a student, Declain smiled.
At that moment, something erupted from the depths of Ifrin's heart, filling the void that had formed in it, but it would be a lie if she said that she was not disappointed.
Because she's still just a student.
- ...yes.
Ifrin smiled too. But then she sniffled without realizing it, and tasted a salty taste.
- It's enough…
She didn't know if she was laughing or crying.
Ifrin nodded her head and touched her chest with her hand.
- I will consider this your manifestation of love for me.
It's not a romantic feeling from a person of the opposite sex, but it's still love.
"…well," Declain said, as if in agreement.
Even if he didn't agree, she would think of it as consent.
- Then…
They stood near the magic circle. The formula designed by Declain will be powered by the power of Ifrin.
- Let's start? Ifrin asked.
In order to realize the miracle of "particles of time", she began to collect magical energy in her body.
- Yes.
Declan smiled. Then he held out his hand to her, and Ifrin happily took it.
"...you've been a lot of trouble," he said with a smirk.
Her heart sank at Declain's words.
Ifrin could not resist.
- Kh...
She threw herself into his arms, wrapping her arms tightly around his waist. She looked at him with her tear-stained eyes and said:
- With you too, professor.
And then she buried herself in Declain's chest.
#7. Imperial Palace
Imperial Palace, chambers of the Empress.
Sophien admired canvas and sculpture. The first is a painting by an unknown master, and the second is a sculpture by Julie. Both works of art were so beautiful that they could not be compared. Still, Sophien put her hand to her chin, trying to find the flaws...
At that moment, the echo of a magical burst came from somewhere far away. Sophien knew what it was even before the report was presented to her.
- Lokralen fell.
The famous "crossroads of time" must have collapsed. And it was good. If Lokralen had stayed, he would have been another seed of destruction.
- Then…
Sophien smiled.
- Right now.
The Empress knew what had happened in Lokralen.
However, she did not know what kind of feelings flared up between Ifrin and Declain, or what specific things happened there, so she was very jealous…
- Brother.
However, now she needed to think about something else.
Sophien called Achan.
Ahan, who was pouring tea next to her, bowed quickly and replied:
- Yes, Your Majesty.
- Contact Riya.
Akhan was surprised to hear this, but still accepted the words of the empress.
- Yes, Your Majesty. What should I convey?
- Tell her…
As she sipped her tea from a cup and nibbled gracefully at the snacks nearby, Sophien smiled bitterly.
- I think I know where Declain is. Time to visit him...
