'Does she know my name?'
She clearly called his name at the end.
Ghislain doubted whether his memory had been read, but it didn't feel that way. It was a warm and familiar voice, as if she truly knew him well.
"Young Master!"
"Your Grace!"
"Hey! Are you okay?"
Everyone ran toward Ghislain. He was still standing in front of the curtain with a dazed expression.
"Young Master! Are you all right?"
Belinda grabbed Ghislain's shoulders and shouted. Only then did Ghislain come to his senses.
"Uh, uh... I'm fine. You must've been really worried."
"I thought I was going crazy! That thing wouldn't even break!"
"Y-Yeah, anyway, thank you all for worrying."
Jerome, looking at the slightly dazed Ghislain, asked, "What happened in there? What did you see?"
As expected of a mage, his voice was filled with curiosity and concern.
"Um, give me a second...."
Ghislain held his forehead, trying to organize his thoughts. It seemed everyone was extremely worried.
This wasn't something he could brush off lightly anymore. At some point, he'd have to face the adversary and prevent the seal from breaking.
Ghislain slowly began to talk about the holy power.
"Ever since I got this necklace, I've been having strange dreams...."
He had already mentioned this to Erenes. She dismissed it as his imagination, but now the others needed to know.
Ghislain summarized the important parts, explaining how he witnessed a war from a thousand years ago in his dreams and learned many things.
He also mentioned that Yulian was the hero, and the adversary looked very much like himself.
Everyone was shocked. Belinda asked urgently,
"Does that mean you're the adversary, Young Master?"
Parniel gripped her mace tightly, showing her willingness to swing it at Ghislain's head if necessary.
Ghislain took a slight step back and said, "No, no. That can't be true, right? That appearance only shows up when I use Dark."
"Ah."
Everyone nodded. It was true that Ghislain only showed such an appearance when using Dark's powers.
Before obtaining Dark, Ghislain had no such abilities.
Fwoosh.
Ghislain summoned Dark, seemingly to clarify his point. Dark, in the form of a raven, blinked blankly.
Jerome suddenly pointed at Dark and shouted, "You're the adversary, aren't you?!"
"What nonsense!"
Dark immediately snapped. If he were mistaken for the adversary, he could be destroyed.
Everyone looked at Dark suspiciously—not because they thought he was the adversary but because they were thinking, "That guy? Really?"
Dark found this even more insulting and humiliating.
"Why would I be? What did I do?!"
Belinda narrowed her eyes and said, "That... can't be true, right?"
Ghislain nodded.
"Yeah, there's no way this guy could be the adversary."
Everyone agreed. Even Parniel loosened her grip on the mace.
Still, Dark felt oddly humiliated again. For a brief moment, he felt like becoming the adversary just to prove himself.
Ghislain continued explaining what had happened inside the curtain.
"So I met the light, and I think that light was a saint. She said she knew me...."
When Ghislain finished his story, Belinda asked curiously, "But what did she mean by meeting again? Think carefully. Do you have any forgotten friends?"
Jerome chimed in, "Yeah! Maybe an old girlfriend or something!"
Ghislain folded his arms and closed his eyes. After a long pause, he said, "I've... never had a girlfriend."
"Ah... oh.... Sorry, I didn't know...."
Jerome gave him a sympathetic look.
Ghislain looked dumbfounded. As far as he knew, Jerome was no different. So he immediately retorted,
"You haven't had one either. Why are you pretending you have?"
"...."
An awkward silence passed.
Belinda thought for a moment before nodding. It was true—other than his former fiancée Amelia, Ghislain hadn't been close to any other woman.
In the territory, people had avoided Ghislain, and even noble ladies weren't interested in dating the heir of poor Perdium.
That made it all the more strange. If Ghislain himself had no recollection, how could the being inside the curtain claim to know him?
Everyone fell silent, lost in thought. The more they pondered, the greater their curiosity grew.
Parniel gripped her mace tightly.
"It's a demon. You were deceived by a demon in there."
She refused to acknowledge that Ghislain had met a saintess. The only thing she was willing to accept was that the source of the Church's holy power was present there.
She couldn't tolerate talk of heroes and saintess that weren't documented in the Church's records.
Ghislain quietly leaned back and said, "Hey, I'm fine."
Vanessa quickly changed the topic.
"For now, why don't we wait? If she said she'd come, we'll know when she arrives."
"Yeah, that's the only option for now."
Still, Ghislain felt a bit of excitement. Whoever that being inside the curtain was, they promised to meet him again soon.
Ghislain smiled brightly.
"Anyway, I'm fine now, so don't worry. Let's head back. You must be out of mana, so we'll just walk."
They had already secured the central area. After retreating and giving the soldiers and workers some rest, they planned to gradually expand the territory.
The group sighed in relief. They wanted to leave this place as soon as possible.
"Oh, should I tell you an interesting story?"
On their way back, Ghislain shared stories he hadn't told earlier—tales about the warriors and apostles who had accompanied the hero back then.
He left out details about Perdium for now. It wasn't confirmed... or maybe he just didn't want to acknowledge it yet.
As they listened, people looked more and more intrigued. Jerome and Belinda, in particular, were fascinated.
"Wow, that sounds just like the founder of our Magic Tower!"
"Lady Annette and the Shadow Knights might be her descendants."
Both of them began pointing out similarities between the figures Ghislain described and their own histories.
"It's a relief there are no apostles in this era."
Everyone nodded at Jerome's comment.
It was hard to accept Ghislain's dreams as pure truth, but if they were, and if those enemies still existed, they might have faced even greater danger.
As they talked, they soon reached the outpost where the soldiers were stationed. Preparations for retreat began immediately.
Ghislain continued to smile and lead the soldiers. However, deep down, he wasn't at ease.
'Something feels wrong.'
Since returning from the curtain, strange things were happening. His focus kept slipping, and overwhelming fatigue washed over him.
'What is this?'
Even after examining himself internally, he found nothing unusual.
He had long reached a level where he could maintain peak condition without much sleep. Yet, this fatigue was different.
There was only one likely cause.
'The saintess's holy power.'
An uncontrollable force lingered within him. Nothing else could explain it.
"Damn it...."
Ghislain couldn't control or expel the saintess's holy power.
By the time they returned to the territory, Ghislain hadn't slept at all. He feared he wouldn't wake up if he did.
"Young Master... are you all right?"
Belinda was the first to notice something was off.
Though Ghislain was strong enough to hide it, Belinda, who had cared for him since childhood, easily spotted the fatigue in his eyes.
"I'm fine. I guess I'm just a bit tired after working nonstop these past few days."
Belinda looked even more doubtful.
Ghislain had endured wars and fought dragon without showing signs of fatigue. This was completely unlike him.
'Is he really... just tired?'
Maybe he finally let his guard down after pushing himself too hard.
Since fatigue was the only noticeable issue, Belinda decided not to press further for now.
Back in the territory, the soldiers and workers immediately reorganized and resumed expanding the base.
They began forming teams to systematically clear the forest.
Ghislain headed straight for Erenes. She hadn't made any progress.
Ghislain spoke bluntly.
"I met the saintess."
Erenes, without even looking at him, replied in a bored voice,
"The saintess is dead."
"I entered the sealed curtain."
"...."
Only then did Erenes look directly at Ghislain.
Slowly, she opened her mouth.
"What did you see?"
"Nothing but darkness. But I saw a small light, and it spoke to me."
"I don't know what happened, but that's just your imagination. That place isn't shaped like that, and no one can enter it."
"What do you mean?"
"Do you really think that enormous energy could have been sealed by just the Saintess and the Hero?"
"...."
"Dragons, elves, dwarves, and humans. The leaders and elders of each race gathered to help seal it. It's not a seal that a mere human can break through."
Ghislain sighed. He had expected such a response from Erenes.
He simply wanted to confirm one thing.
"You said you worked alongside the Saintess, right?"
"Yes."
"The Saintess said she had met me before. And she said we would meet again. So... have you met me too?"
If the Saintess had really met him, then Erenes should have as well.
After all, Erenes was the only surviving member of the heroes from a thousand years ago.
Erenes widened her eyes. After staring at Ghislain in disbelief for a long time, she spoke.
"Are you insane?"
"...."
"The Saintess and I were together a thousand years ago. How could you possibly have met her?"
"...."
As expected, no. Whatever else, that expression was genuine.
Ghislain clicked his tongue. He had wondered if they might have crossed paths when he was younger, but it was clear they hadn't.
To confirm the Saintess's words, he had no choice but to wait.
Ghislain returned to his work with no clear answers. Tired or not, the tasks still had to be done.
He first checked on the pursuit team.
"We haven't found any traces yet."
"The kingdoms have agreed to increase the number of pursuit teams."
"There's also a plan to deliberately let some remnants escape and track them."
Ghislain nodded as he received the reports. Finding Gartros wouldn't be easy—it was a matter that would take time.
The more pressing issue was the study of the rifts. Most of the mages, apart from a few assigned elsewhere, were focused on researching the rifts.
"How is Yulian doing?"
"We still... haven't found anything unusual. We're looking for the cause."
The energy that had infiltrated Yulian's body was also being studied by the mages. But so far, they have uncovered nothing.
Still, the mages trusted Ghislain and Yulian's concerns and continued their investigations. Priests were also consistently monitoring Yulian's condition.
"Good, make sure to be thorough."
Ghislain emphasized it several times. The energy that came from a mad dragon couldn't be taken lightly.
Everyone in the territory remained busy. Even though the war was over, there was still much to do.
Ghislain, in particular, handled development, internal affairs, and kingdom stabilization with relentless focus.
It was no different from how he always worked. That's how he had lived all along.
But as time passed, his condition worsened.
"Young Master! Please get some sleep!"
"Your Grace, you haven't slept a single moment in the past month."
Belinda and Gillian were alarmed every time they saw Ghislain and urged him to rest.
"Ugh...."
Ghislain bit his lip, his hollow eyes dark with exhaustion.
Under normal circumstances, not sleeping for a month wouldn't have affected him at all. But now, he looked terrible.
Dark circles stained his eyes, and his body had become noticeably gaunt. Even after Piote and Parniel repeatedly poured holy power into him, nothing improved.
Rumors began to spread that Ghislain had fallen ill.
Even those who had seen supernatural beings found it odd. Someone as skilled as Ghislain shouldn't have deteriorated just from lack of sleep.
Belinda asked worriedly, "What's really going on? This all started after that day, didn't it? Are you sure it's not from all the poison you consumed?"
"No, the poison's not the issue."
The poison had already been converted into mana. If anything, his mana reserves had grown significantly.
That meant the problem had to be related to entering the curtain. There was nothing else to suspect.
Dark, who had been loitering nearby, proposed a theory.
"What if the Saintess meant to meet you in the afterlife—ack!"
Before he could finish, Belinda grabbed Dark by the neck, choking him.
Annoying as it was, Dark's theory seemed disturbingly plausible given the circumstances.
Ghislain felt stifled. He had no idea what was wrong with his body.
It felt like his mana was sealed away. Something was binding him tightly.
By exerting his willpower, he could partially break free from the restraints. Ghislain had been enduring by resisting this unknown force with sheer determination.
'This is a first.'
In a way, it was a form of training. Constantly pushing against the restraints had made him more adept at using his willpower.
And Ghislain kept reevaluating his theory.
— It's time for us to 'meet again.'
There was no way to meet someone from a thousand years ago.
'But in dreams....'
It was possible. He had met the Saintess through dreams before.
'Could she be calling me?'
Ever since he began feeling unwell, Ghislain had been deliberately avoiding sleep. Perhaps the repeated signals were growing stronger because of that.
If he continued to endure, this strange condition might disappear. The stronger his willpower became, the weaker the force binding him seemed to grow.
That made sense. No matter how powerful the holy power left by the Saintess was, there had to be limits to its influence in the real world.
'Then....'
— The choice is yours.
Ghislain smirked.
Wasn't life just a series of choices anyway?
'Fine. I'll accept it.'
Now that things had come this far, he decided to see it through to the end.
Ghislain relaxed his body and stopped resisting the force that was calling him.
At that moment—
Boom.
Ghislain closed his eyes and collapsed.
{T/L: I have adjusted the price of paid chapters and they are more cheap and you can catch up to latest chapter.}
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