Chapter 187 – Ixion (3)

Bertelgia was a book, and therefore had no body heat. The only one with body heat was Sungchul. That is why Sungchul ended up being the one to incubate the egg.

It was definitely not something a man named ‘Enemy of the World’ should be doing. Sungchul thought so as well. But it was the right time to be picky over his pride. He recalled a story of a wise man to help break free of his feeling of shame.

‘It has been said that even the Great Edison had incubated an egg as a child.’

There was at least one regard in which Sungchul’s situation was better than Edison’s.
The egg the child Edison had incubated was an unfertilized egg where as the egg Sungchul was incubating at least contained life. But despite having incubated the egg for more than half a day, there was not a sign that Marakia was going to awaken soon.

“Mmm. This egg. Did it die already? Inside of the Soul Storage.”

“It did not die.”

Movement could be felt from within the egg. Albeit very weakly. Marakia would be reborn in a not too distant future. The problem was that it was unclear when that would be. After having invested the better part of the day to the revival of Marakia, someone knocked on the doors. Opening them revealed a child Vestiare blinking and looking up at Sungchul.

“What is it?”

Once Sungchul asked, the small Vestiare answered with a slight lisp.

“You have a guest.”

“A guest? Do you mean your master?”

The child Vestiare shook her head.

“Princess.”

“Princess?”

The child Vestiare did not give any unnecessary answer and simply left. Soon the guest in quetion stood before Sungchul’s room. It was a short and thinly built red haired lady who was exuding a great deal of confidence from her whole body. Seeing her caused a change in Sungchul. It was someone he knew. In fact, it was an acquaintance. Sungchul searched his hazy memory for the girl of the now-ruined kingdom.

‘Princess McRaed.’

The former princess of former Ixion. From the very start, she had been blessed with strong magic and two magic fingerprints and had been hailed as the star of Ixion’s future. But her excessive ability might have been a source of her problem. The Princes McRaed of Sungchul’s memory was a chaotic headstrong and completely untamable troublemaker. Completely unrelated to this fact, Sungchul and McRaed shared an uncomfortable past. The King of Ixion had attempted to marry McRaed off to Sungchul. But it ended awkwardly after Sungchul’s refusal.

“Hmm. You are the Imperial Commander in Chief?”

McRaed tilted her head to stare deeply at Sungchul with her eyes as red as her fire-like hair.

“Your face changed a lot. And you’re shorter too.”

She pushed her way into Sungchul’s room as if it was her room to sit on the comfy armchair before crossing her leg and looking back at Sungchul.

“Are you really Sungchul Kim?”

She glared at Sungchul as she asked. It seemed as though she was unaccustomed to his present appearance. Sungchul felt at a loss at the sudden appearance of an unexpected guest.

‘Didn’t she die, this girl?’

They had poor compatibility. Unlike calm and collected personality of Sungchul, McRaed was always someone unpredictable since she was young. In the days Sungchul had come to visit the city of Ixion on official capacity, he often had great difficulty in helping find McRaed who frequently ran away from home.

“Excuse me, are you really Sungchul ssi?”
(TL: Ssi is polite, slightly more impersonal, and also a more mature way to address someone.)

McRaed approached Sungchul who was lost in thought as she waved her hand as she addressed him. Sungchul nodded his head as he back peddled.

“That is so.”

“What do you mean ‘that is so’? Is this how you speak to your fiance you haven’t seen in 10 years?”

A sound of someone making a strange noise could be heard coming from the bed at that statement. It was Bertelgia. She was caught by surprise at the mention of ‘fiance’ and couldn’t help but react.

“Mmm?”

McRaed’s eyes glistened like a ferocious predator who caught the scent of a prey when she heard a voice of a little girl coming from the bed.

“I think I just heard something. Didn’t you?”

She stared at Sungchul as she made a peculiar smile.

“What have you come here for?”

Sungchul attempted to shift the conversation to recover from the situation turning strange, but it was no easy task calming down McRaed once she had ignited. It appeared for a brief moment that her body was enveloped in Magic Formations before she reappeared on the bed with her legs crossed.

“I thought I heard a sound from here for sure.”

Before Sungchul had a chance to stop her, she lifted up the blankets. But under the covers were only an egg and a book. Disappointment visibily appeared in her eyes.

“What is this. I thought you were hiding a girl here or something.”

“You didn’t change at all.”

Sungchul said. She was still free spirited and daring. He had thought that the loss of her father and kingdom might have made her more mature, but McRaed seemed no different from how she was 12 years ago when she had been meeting him as a potential partner.

“Why do I need to change?”

McRaed seemed rather offended by the idea and complained. Sungchul took a moment to observe her behavior. McRaed sat on the bedside and gazed with a blank stare at the egg of Marakia and Bertelgia who was lying next to the pillow.

“Mmm? What’s this?”

McRaed showed curiosity upon seeing the egg of Marakia.

‘No good.’

McRaed destroys others’ belonging without any hesitation or remorse. Although her circumstances had changed since the past, it was unlikely for people to lose their old habits. Sungchul did everything he could to move to the bed to interrupt and prevent McRaed from touching the egg.

“Do not touch it.”

McRaed looked greatly intreigued.

“What is it?”

“No need to know. Also, I believe I have asked you why you are here.”

Sungchul intentionally spoke coldly. McRaed looked greatly disappointed at Sungchul’s callous behavior. It was their reunion in roughly a decade. And evaluation of people were relative. While Sungchul did not think highly of McRaed, McRaed’s view of Sungchul was very good. The marriage proposal was not something born of only the will of the king of Ixion. Sungchul also knew this, but the safety of Marakia’s egg and Bertelgia came first.

“Leave.”

He reasserted himself firmly. The staring contest did not last long. McRaed made a bitter face and turned around.

“I guess the one who changed is you.”

She let out a sigh and walked over to the chair in the drawing room.

“Can’t believe you didn’t let me touch a mere egg.”

Her grumbling began in earnest once she was seated.

“I know, that you don’t like me. I also know that the fox of Ruteginea is more to your taste then someone wild like me.

“I have asked you what do you want.”

It was the third time he was asking. Sungchul’s utterance had a heavy and undefyable power behind them. McRaed gave a sharp sidelong glance at Sungchul but couldn’t bring herself to change the topic. It was because she had detected pure rage hiding in his gaze.

“Alright. I’ll get to the point.”

She took out two golden marbles and started rolling them in her hands as she began to speak.

“I’ve come in hopes of forming an alliance with you.”

“An alliance? Alliance with who?”

“What do you mean who? Ixion of course.”

McRaed continued to roll the marbles in her hands. Sungchul couldn’t help but let out a laugh.

“Did you become a servant of Vestiare? How unexpected. To align yourself to someone who killed your own father and destroyed your kingdom.”

The McRaed Sungchul knew may have not had the most proper ettiquette, but she had a grasp of justice. The marbles in McRaed’s hands stopped. She glared at Sungchul and replied in a clear voice.

“I think you’re misunderstanding something. I am not a mere pawn of the Seven Heroes.”

Sungchul gazed at McRaed without emotion as if to study her.

“Of course, it’s true that this city is currently under the dominion of Vestiare. And it’s also true that I am entrusting my safety to her too. But Vestiare is not trying to rule over us. In fact, she gave us an opportunity.”

“An opportunity?”

“The people of the Eastern Regions had always lived without power. We have everything, from long history, great education, high quality citizens, abundant land, natural beauty… But we were forced to live suppressed by upstart nations of the west like Ruteginea.”

McRaed explained her thoughts without any trouble as she gave her golden marbles a roll.

“The Colossi were definitely a bolt of lighting out of nowhere for the indolent people of the Eastern Regions. But at the same time, it represented an opportunity for the people.”

Sungchul felt as if he had become a prophet as he listened to her explanation.

‘Is she perhaps trying to say that the Colossi have ended the years of chaos and enabled the reunification of the Eastern Regions?’

McRaed seemed rather proud as she continued to speak.

“We now have a cause. A cause that could unify the Easterners under one banner. Neither the Human Empire nor the World Parliament can stop us.”

“The Seven Heroes wouldn’t let that happen though?”

“On the contrary. Vestiare Nim is supporting our reunification. The formation of Heroic Eastern Seven that could rival the Thirteen Continental Champions was possible under the discreet support of Vestiare nim.”

“Heroic Eastern Seven?”

It was a name he had never heard before.

“As the name suggests, it refers to the Seven Heroes of the Eastern Regions. Even if you’ve never heard of the Heroic Eastern Seven, you’ve heard about the major event in La Grange recently, right? Although you’ve snuffed out the candle towards the end and tarnished its significance a bit.”

“You mean where the undead launched a surprise attack on La Grange?”

McRaed nodded and continued in an excited voice.

“The Twilight Necromancer Phoebe Canvas and Phantom Executor Angelo Rooks. They are the members of our Heroic Eastern Seven.”

It appeared as though she was not aware of their fates yet. Therefore she had no way to know that Sungchul had personally executed them. Sungchul feigned ignorance and replied.

“So was what they’ve done something decided by the Heroic Eastern Seven as a whole?”

McRaed shook her head.

“No. It was something they did on their own.”

“Where are they now?”

“Well. They’re probably somewhere. They’re unpredictable kids. Anyway, that’s not the important part. The important part is the future of the Easter Regions.”

McRaed put away her marble and stood up from her seat.

“We are trying to form a brand new country. A country where no prejudice or injustice will come from those who do honest work where everyone can be happy. It will be a new beginning for Ixion. But for that to happen, it needs your strength.”

“…”

Sungchul gave a negative response. And McRaed did not look as if she wanted to try and persuade Sungchul either. She headed towards the exit.

“In New Ixion, as you can see, new life is being born here. But that’s not the only redeeming feature of this city. This City is perfection itself. Go around the city whenever you get time. Then you’ll be able to see what kind of country we want to build.”

McRaed left the room after leaving those words. Her entry and exit was akin to a hurricane. As soon as the doors were closed, Bertelgia immediately began to speak.

“Just what is that girl? She only talked about what she wanted to say before leaving. What a strange person.”

“She is a strange person.”

“She said she’s your fiance. Is that true?”

“That’s what she thinks. I have never liked that girl even once.”

“No surprise there. You wouldn’t get along with that type of person. Anyway, that’s not important so let’s resume incubating!”

“…”

Although he did not want to, he returned to the bed to incubate the egg.

‘How long do I have to do this for?’

Sungchul suppressed his feeling of shame and continued with his task. ‘Sincerity moves the heavens’ was it?

About a day later there was news. The egg began to overflow with stronger and stronger life force. Bertelgia used the corner of the book cover to tap on the eggshell to check Marakia’s condition, and Marakia pecked the shell from within to emphasize his well being from within.

“Mmm. Now that I think of it, what do we do if he doesn’t listen to us?”

It seemed as though she had only now begun to worry. Bertelgia was able to do as she pleased with him because Marakia was still in his egg, but struggle for hierarchy was inevitable once he awakened.

“Please say something to him when he wakes up. That he is not allowed to disobey Bertelgia nim.”

“You do not have to worry about that Bertelgia. Marakia may be a cruel Nahak, but he is an individual capable of good judgement.”

The day of rebirth arrived amidst worry and anticipation.

Tap Tap.

The frequency of tapping noise from within the egg increased. Bertelgia knocked on the shell from the outside to aid in the birth of Marakia.

“Mmm. It just occured to me now, but is it ok for us to be doing this kind of thing?”

Bertelgia’s unnecessary concerns began to rise as the time of his return grew closer and closer.

“What if he dies the moment he’s born?”

“…”

Sungchul tapped on the egg instead of answering.

“What a bad person.”

“You’re the one who gave the idea.”

“You’re even worse for doing everything you’re told!”

The sound of Marakia’s egg breaking stopped their bickering.

“…”

Bertelgia and Sungchul held their breath and watched the moment of birth.

Crack

A section of the shell broke. And from between them was the sight of a sharp yellow beak. It was Marakia’s beak.

Bertelgia quickly retreated to the inside of Sungchul’s pocket and Sungchul wordlessly watched Marakia emerge from the egg.

Soon,

The egg finally broke apart and revealed the black feather within.

“Kukuku… Bow before the King of the Last Age Marakia…!”

Marakia returned to the world from the egg. In an incomparably small and adorable form.

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