Book 2 Chapter 17

Episode 41

Late into the night, I sat on the temple's main gate steps with Pipi for a long time, looking up at the starry sky.

There was no need for us to say anything to each other. We weren't that kind of people. It was simply good, being able to spend the same time together.

Just that alone made me smile continuously.

As the jet-black sky was tinged with purple, announcing the prelude to dawn, Rain opened his mouth.

“Did Friede tell me to wait for him?”

That point was curious. No, rather than curious, it was perplexing.

Why would he tell me to wait? For 300 years, no less? For what reason? There must have been some purpose.

Friede wouldn't have left Pipi, whom he cherished more than his own blood, in a place like this unless it was truly important.

Although all the companions of the hero's party liked and adored Pipi, their affection was nothing compared to Friede's, who had raised him since he was a hatchling.

“This, this, this.”

Pipi shook his neck. A very small pouch hung there. From it, I could retrieve a ring.

It was a ring set with a `Flame Jade Stone (炎玉石)`, a treasure among treasures, a gem that glowed as if flames were burning.

For a moment, I couldn't help but gasp, not because of its value, but because it was a familiar item.

“This is Friede’s.”

“Right, right, right.”

Pipi flew up as if telling me to follow.

His destination was in front of the temple's firmly closed main gate. The red-wood gate was intact, only worn by the passage of time.

“Did you fend off all the grave robbers for 300 years?”

“Protected, protected, protected.”

“Why? No, what?”

As I pondered how to open it, Friede's ring emitted a brilliant light.

As if resonating with that light, the red dragon statues on either side of the main gate also emitted light.

Kugugugugu… And with a dense cloud of dust, the massive door began to open.

I let out a whistle of admiration, but Pipi flew inside, so I had to hastily follow.

“Pipi!”

Flames erupted from the candelabras hanging in the niches wherever Rain's feet touched, so there was no need to use a separate illumination spell.

The dimly lit interior of the temple was filled with dust, but the ceiling was impossibly high, the jewels decorating the columns were dazzling, and the red dragon statues lining the passageway were imposing.

Outside, it was still a cold spring dawn, but inside, a mysterious warmth permeated, giving a sense of comfort like being in the womb.

“Pipi, where are you going? Pipi!”

How far did I walk, following the fiery afterimage Pipi left as he flew?

Pipi finally stopped at the end of a long corridor, where the shrine maiden’s bedchamber was located.

‘Friede’s room…’

After a moment of hesitation, I opened the door, and Pipi landed on the bed, bobbing his head back and forth and humming a tune.

I wondered if he was happy about his owner’s scent, but looking closely, something was tucked under Pipi’s talons.

It was a luxurious ebony wooden box.

Feeling an inexplicable tension, I opened the wooden box… A glass bottle wrapped in red silk appeared. It was a mysterious liquid, shining with a clear golden-red brilliance in the darkness, like a flame.

“What is this?”

At that moment, what caught Rain's breath was not the liquid, but a small piece of stationery laid at the bottom of the wooden box.

It was so old that it had turned yellow and looked like it would crumble if handled even slightly roughly.

And… familiar handwriting was alive and breathing on that stationery.

[1168.09.24 - To Rin.]

I gasped, my breath catching.

It was hard to breathe because of the intermittent huffs of laughter rising from my throat.

‘A date from 250 years ago…’

I composed my breathing and carefully opened the letter.

To Rin.

I write this letter again this year. This will probably be the last.

Knowing that Rin is terrible at treasure hunting, I gave up on hiding it somewhere because of grave robbers.

So I left Pipi as a guardian. So that this letter and gift can reach Rin.

Did you meet Pipi? The Mad Dragon took pity on us and greatly extended Pipi's lifespan. I regret not being able to see Rin's surprised face myself.

Pipi and I have both grown very old. Still, my desire to meet Rin again is as strong as ever. As I've aged, I've become more prone to tears, and I can only think of the things I couldn't do for Rin in the past.

I must leave now.

I plan to follow the legions to the <Ten Thousand Miles of Flame (火焰萬里)> in the South Pole. If what I dream of is achieved, I might be alive until Rin comes.

I will conclude my letter here.

I want to write more, but I don't know what I'd hear from Rista or Kies, so I'll stop.

It's all of our wishes not to shackle Rin, who is about to start a new life, with the chains of the past.

Enclosed with the letter is a birthday gift.

Rin, Happy nineteenth birthday. I promised you before. That is the Dragon's Breath.

I wholeheartedly pray that this gift will be of even a small help on the journey of life that Rin must endure from now on.

Thank you.

And I miss you.

- Your old friend, Friede.

The characters of the letter blurred and crumbled. I could feel my eyes welling up.

‘What's with the honorifics, so unlike him…’

That thought crossed my mind, but when I realized that Friede was 90 years old when he wrote this letter, my heart felt inexplicably empty.

Only then did I truly understand.

I had harbored a false hope. The hope that my companions might still be alive somewhere, the hope that I might meet them again…

I had been living, soothing vast loneliness with that small hope.

“Don’t cry, don’t cry. Rin, don’t cry.”

Pipi urged me, darting back and forth on my shoulders. I wiped my eyes and shook my head.

“It’s okay. I’m not crying. It’s just funny that he used honorifics…”

I pretended to be nonchalant, but I was so shaken that I found it hard to even grasp something with my hand. I decided to quickly dispose of the Dragon's Breath before I dropped it.

As if knowing this, Pipi pecked out the cork stopper with his beak. Just as heat rises from fire, a mysterious spiritual energy wafted from the liquid in the glass bottle.

Thank you, Friede. I murmured inwardly, then poured all the thick liquid into my mouth.

“…?!”

Something felt strange from inside my mouth, and the sensation of it passing down my esophagus was as painful as swallowing flames.

But the pain… didn't feel like pain… it was like an immense vitality surging…

Blood vessels all over my body bulged and glowed red, and a power I had never felt before surged into the main channels that circulated magic through those vessels.

An uncontrollable surge of power, a feeling of fullness as if about to explode, a sensation of burning as if the main channels were being consumed by flames.

“Pipi, my bag.”

“Bag, bag.”

“I have an old diary. Can you open it for me?”

Feeling a dizzying exhilaration and sensing the explosive magic circulating through my body, a string of characters unfolded before my eyes. It must be `Gustaba`.

Gustaba: Objectifies the caster's physical condition into mathematical values.

ㆍPillar: Current magical power 13,222 -> 26,444.

My mouth fell open at the unbelievable increase in magical power.

Double?

Exactly double?

This was an absolutely ridiculous amplification rate. The magical power increase from elixirs or divine pills that the Eight Great Schools prepared over hundreds of years for their next head was less than 5,000.

‘Ah, such a mistake…’

If I had known it was this amazing, I would have accumulated about 50,000 magic power before consuming it to reach 100,000. But I shook my head, chasing away the gloomy thoughts.

‘But this means I can use the Mental Barrier now, right?’

As proof, isn't the unique rune faintly flickering and expressing its presence on my bandaged left palm?

Brante.

- New magic circuit, usage conditions met: Flowing Venerable (流量世尊).

The growth of magic is peculiar; initially, it follows a gentle downward curve, but once a certain threshold is broken, it shifts to an upward curve.

This means that once it enters a certain trajectory, its growth rate gradually accelerates.

So there's nothing to be gloomy about. The magic growth rate will probably be vastly different from before.

By then, the morning light was shining dazzlingly through the temple's stained glass. As I packed Friede's wooden box into my satchel, I said:

“Pipi, I have to go now. If I leave now, I won't be late for dormitory curfew.”

“Rin, must go. Rin, must go.”

“So, about that… do you want to come with me?”

Pipi’s eyes brightened, but then he lowered his head as if he couldn’t.

“Pipi, waits for Friede. Waited for Rin, now waits for Friede.”

Is that so?

Did you promise that?

Must this fellow endure another indefinite wait? I couldn't leave him like that.

“You can wait with me.”

“Rin, together?”

“Yes. Friede is super famous, so if he's alive, there'll be a huge commotion. No need to wait here, we'll go meet him together then. Friede will be so surprised he'll fall over…”

Pipi initially tilted his head in confusion, then his eyes brightened, and he climbed onto Rain's head, bobbing it back and forth.

“Together, together, together.”

As we left the temple, the morning sunlight spread, brilliantly coloring the world. Thump, the massive door behind us closed on its own. It probably wouldn't open again.

“Pipi, is there anything you want to eat?”

“Corn, corn, corn.”

“Oh, right. Pipi loved corn so much, didn’t you?”

It was a cold spring morning with chilly air still lingering, but the conversation with an old friend warmed both body and soul throughout the journey back.

Warm, warm, and yet warm, it warmed my soul.

* * *

Having finished writing the letter, Friede silently looked down at the stationery for a moment. Beside him, Pipi was pecking at corn kernels.

“Pipi.”

“Pipi, Pipi, Pipi.”

“I have to go now.”

Stopping mid-corn-eating, Pipi looked up at his old owner with clear eyes. A bitter smile formed on Friede's wrinkled lips.

“Will you wait for Rin here? So that child won’t be alone.”

“Pipi, waits for Rin.”

“It will be a truly arduous and difficult journey… because you will be alone until that child comes.”

Friede could not dare to fathom how painful and long that journey would be. Perhaps it was because he didn't know that he himself was leaving for the South Pole now.

“It’s okay, it’s okay.”

“Will you really be okay? You can just come with me.”

“Even if it’s hard, Pipi waits for Rin. Rin, Friede’s friend. Rin, Pipi’s friend.”

Ah… Friede gently embraced Pipi with both hands and began to cry silently for a moment.

Perhaps this might be the last time. But what if…

“I’ll be waiting in the <Ten Thousand Miles of Flame (火焰萬里)>, Pipi. When Rin is ready to embark on his journey, tell him this message.”