Chapter 165.2: Heartless (3)

165 Part 2

“I have been waiting and waiting for today. I wondered what you guys would look like, what you would babble, and…”

Fran Page and Ian Page’s lips moved at the same time.

“How you would look like on the brink of extinction.”

Fran moved a step forward to the dragons, where Reseesee Radenju was, along with Ian’s body.

[…What happened to him?]

Reseesee Radenju asked as calmly as she could despite being astonished beyond limits.

[Has his soul be destroyed?]

“Soul? He was only a tool. A soul that had a body, a metaphysical form in the actual sense. While there had been problems for having spawned failures, this time he had been satisfactory.”

Fran stopped Ian from moving and stroked his head as he spoke like he was boasting. He seemed to be speaking of an exquisite artwork rather than complimenting a person.

“Well, he had something like a soul since he was born from his mother’s womb.”

Fran was already certain of his victory. It had been a lie that there was a seventy percent chance of extinguishing the dragons if he and Ian worked together, as if the seal were broken, he could do so alone. Just like now.

“Don’t worry too much. I gave him a special present for all his hard work, as a price for having completed his use as a tool and given me his carefully grown body. He must be ecstatic now.”

What was the present? Before the meaning was revealed, the madness inherent in the demonic aura emitting from Fran and Ian’s body rang the air.

“Lizards, thank you for sealing and protecting this body for a long time. I should reward you for your hard work. How about this? You guys can go on a sweet vacation longer than you have worked. Where would the ideal spot be? Clean air, freshwater, quietness, and able to accommodate your size…”

Fran rubbed his cheek like he really had been thinking things over.

“Oh, right! There is just one place!”

Fran clapped and acted in an exaggerated manner and quietly whispered as he looked at the sky.

(I’ll send you guys to the afterlife.)

Fran seemed satisfied.

***

“Ian? Why are you acting like that all of a sudden? Is there a problem? Speak to me, Ian! Ian!”

The headache that had been tormenting Ian had disappeared, and instead, he heard someone’s urgent voice in his ears.

‘What…?’

Ian felt astonished, as he had been opposing Fran Page just now.

‘This voice…’

Ian lifted his head and looked around. It was an organized library that looked familiar since it was his own.

‘Why am I in the library…?’

Ian turned his gaze to where the voice had come from with a question, and his eyes widened at sight.

“You seem strange. Are you really sick? Is that so?”

The middle-aged man was mumbling with eyes filled half with worry for Ian and worry for the future schedule. Ian knew who he was very well.

“Ra- Ragnar?”

“Yes? Why? Do you need anything?”

Yes, the man who had suddenly appeared was ‘Ragnar Greenriver,’ who had poisoned Ian in the first life. He was not the young fifth prince who had died, but the middle-aged man who had murdered Ian by poison after becoming the Emperor of the ‘Greenriver Empire.’

‘Why is this man…’

Chaos succeeded the painful headache, and Ian did not have a clue to what was going on.

‘What is going on…’

“Do magicians become sick? Especially someone as strong as you? I had never seen you catch a cold before.”

Ragnar continued speaking, regardless of how confused Ian was. He looked different from the Ragnar of the first life, like he looked more kind than before.

“It’s a problem since you caught something right before my oldest brother’s Day of Naming. You know that he is waiting for you with his neck stretched. That is the most evident thing in this empire. He would be deeply disappointed.”

Day of Naming for Ragnar’s oldest brother? What was he talking about?

‘Is this an illusion?’

Ian made a decision and tried to block whatever hallucination was going on with everything he had. However, no magic, and not even the power of language could block what Ian saw now. Actually, as much as he resisted, strange memories infiltrated Ian’s brain.

‘These memories…’

They were all positive memories. The crown prince Hayden, who had become a great king after mishaps, and the fifth prince Ragnar, who was truly his brother. Ian, the great magician and their closest friend, had achieved a peaceful union just by his presence.

‘What the…’

The most beautiful and wise wife in this world, Princess Haileyy and Vanessa, who still was healthy and dignified despite her age. She had remarried Ledio, who was now the first Head of Alchemy in the Unified Empire. Douglas was considered to have reached the level of gods. He remembered other memories, and they painted over Ian’s ‘previous memories.’

“…..”

Some time passed, and Ian’s surprised look disappeared.

“It’s nothing. It’s happening more often, and my body is not the same. Mana is affected by time.”

Ian was swallowed up in the happy memories that had overwhelmed him.

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