Youngest 241

Episode 241

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A dark chapel.

I sat absent-mindedly, gazing up at the statue of the goddess.

Moonlight streamed through the broken window, casting a white beam across the goddess’s face. For some reason, it felt both sacred and not quite sacred at the same time.

“It feels different from the one I saw at church during the Green Festival prayer service.”

Maybe it’s because this one is much bigger.

Then again, the faces of gods are always drawn however humans imagine them, aren’t they.

I pressed my hands together and prayed with reverence.

“You look younger, more elegant, and more merciful than the one I saw at the Babylon Church.”

So please, let my dad come back without a single scratch. Amen.

And since I’m praying anyway, please let me open the portal without being late. Amen.

“Ah, I forgot something.”

Please don’t let a single hair on my family—or my friends—get hurt. Amen.

“Oh, one more thing.”

When the Mage King falls forward, please make sure he smashes the back of his head and dies. Amen.

And, since You’re listening anyway, there was something else…

Whoooosh.

Just then, a gust of wind swept in through the gaping window and blew my hair into a wild mess. I suppose that was a sign to stop.

“Ah, okay. Still, please grant all my prayers.”

Unable to glare at the petty goddess, I turned to stare at the window instead, and my eyes wandered up to the ceiling.

There were dazzling paintings, apparently inspired by myth. Though some of the paint had peeled away from lack of restoration, the art was still impressive.

“This used to be the most beautiful temple in Arcadia.”

I heard the sound of a staff tapping from afar, and Ideline approached. She sat down beside me and joined me in gazing up at the ceiling.

“This ceiling mural was especially exquisite. Are you familiar with the ancient myths?”

“Ah. I studied them at the Academy. We even put on a play about them.”

Feeling quietly proud, I boasted, and Ideline smiled as she patted my head. Her touch felt grandmotherly and oddly comforting.

She spoke in a low voice.

“For Arcadia, it would be its own founding myth. After the war between the goddess and the Dragon God, the Dragon God emerged victorious, came here, and became the first Mage King.”

Ideline quietly turned her gaze toward the emblem of the Mage Kingdom engraved on a pillar.

The World Tree. And a dragon ascending, coiled around it.

Each represents wisdom and power, while the form of the dragon is both Arcadia’s ancestral deity and the image of its first king.

My head tilted subconsciously.

“But isn’t it a little strange? They fought a war, the Dragon God won, and yet the main deity ended up being the goddess.”

“Because it was the goddess who shared the wisdom of language and symbols—that is, magic circles—with humanity and quelled the ancient chaos. The first Mage King only later acknowledged this and commanded that the goddess’s will be honored and revered. That gradually turned into the religion we have today.”

An age of never-ending chaos.

Humans with no means to resist the mounting threat of magical beasts.

Pitying them, the goddess insisted on intervening directly in human life to save them, while the Dragon God declared that divine meddling was forbidden, and believed destruction to be humanity’s destiny.

And so the two gods clashed, warring until only one remained.

After a fierce struggle, the Dragon God—symbol of power—emerged victorious.

‘In the end, the goddess fled to Babylon and met her demise there.’

As a result, the founding myth of the Babylon Empire includes the goddess.

Having fled the Dragon God’s curse, she meets Lin Babylon, and using the last of her power, lays the foundation for the birth of Babylon.

‘Does that mean the Dragon God regretted opposing the goddess, only at the very end?’

Alone, he founded Arcadia according to her wishes, and bestowed the power of magic upon his followers. Thus were mages born.

“But is that really the whole story…?”

I looked at the two figures in the mural, locked in a stare, divided against one another. The humanized gods, brought to life by the artist’s imagination, looked at once strange and familiar.

“What do you mean?”

“According to an old text I discovered at the Academy, the two were deeply in love.”

“…Is that so?”

“Yes. It was a record left by the first emperor of Babylon.”

“Well. The first emperor of Babylon… Let’s see, his name was Lin Babylon, I believe?”

“Yes. Even as they hated each other, they loved one another. Though I’m not sure either of them realized it at the time…”

“Hatred and love are different, yet similar feelings.”

Ideline spoke in a low, almost pained tone.

“Perhaps neither could quite guess the other’s heart.”

As I nodded, my eyes fell upon a corner of the mural. A plant potted in a tiny urn… or was it a sapling?

“If that account is true, what do you think became of the Dragon God after the goddess died?”

Ideline murmured, and I turned from the ceiling to face her.

“After killing the one he loved most.”

“If he loved her, do you suppose he regretted it?”

“He must have been wracked with anguish.”

From the founding of Arcadia onward, the first Mage King’s records break off abruptly, as if by magic—so nothing is known about the rest of his life or his death.

But perhaps that’s what makes it a myth.

“Putting everything else aside, if this was just a love story, I think both were truly pitiable.”

At least Romeo and Juliet got to confess their love to each other.

For no reason, I sniffled.

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Ideline watched as Rubian began to nod off.

For all her lively chatter about myths, that round forehead soon fell softly onto her knees.

Seated sideways on the long chapel pew, Rubian had pressed her cheeks between her knees and fallen asleep. Ideline slipped off her cloak and draped it gently over her.

“She has every reason to be tired.”

Erasing the Mage’s Crest from all the mages hiding here would surely have strained her powers.

‘Truly…’

She touched her own neck. Some of the ointment had rubbed off, but she didn’t care.

‘So it really was possible.’

She had never been certain how long this life could continue.

It felt as if a savior had appeared.

Truthfully, everyone in the prayer chamber must have felt something similar.

At first, freed from the crest, the mages had looked bewildered, unable to understand what had happened.

But only for a moment—soon, tears streamed down their faces. Some cried out with joy, others prayed in tongues unknown.

They hugged their families and kissed the place where the crest had been on each other’s bodies. Then, sheepish, they prostrated themselves before Rubian.

“We will never forget the grace you have granted us!”

“No… you really can forget it…”

“We’ll remember it forever! Merciful savior!”

“No… please don’t give me such a burdensome title…”

‘She didn’t seem used to attention.’

Rather, more than that—

‘She seemed skilled at dodging all the attention thrown her way.’

Recalling how Rubian would hide behind her brother, Ideline chuckled softly to herself. It was no wonder she had run away all the way to this place.

“Well then… time to repay the favor bestowed upon us.”

She stood, intent on heading off to repair the portal’s magic circle.

But just as she was wondering whether she could really leave the sleeping Rubian alone—

“Heek—! Who’s there…!”

“Shh.”

She nearly stopped breathing at the sight of those pale blue-gray eyes shining in the darkness.

‘An unregistered mage…’

And one possessed of astonishing magical power.

When had he come in?

Even under Ideline’s wary gaze, the man was unconcerned. As if it were second nature, he tucked the blanket around Rubian.

Then, settling himself clumsily beside the sleeping girl, he positioned her so she would rest comfortably against him.

“Is there something else you want?”

It was clear—he meant, I’ll take care of her now, so you can go.