Chapter 2 — 의문
Part 2, Chapter 28
Doubt
Even with an arm severed.
Black remained impassive. He knew perfectly well what kind of temperament Cromhel had.
What stirred his feelings instead was Cromhel’s reaction.
‘He’s certainly not like that idiot Zeraiz.’
Black felt as if he’d finally met someone truly fit to lead this great empire forward.
Behold.
A presence so overwhelming that even comparing him to Zeraiz felt like an insult.
If it had been the deposed crown prince?
He would’ve barely listened and lashed out on emotion.
But Cromhel was hearing him out with a calm, cool head.
And he had the breadth to let things go—so long as the reasoning held.
‘The next crown must go to him. There’s no one else.’
Fixing his resolve to seat Cromhel on the next throne no matter what, Black continued.
“…Even with the Golden Lion stepping in, we ultimately failed to subdue Huilran.”
Huilran itself had become a desolate ruin no one could live in.
But they’d lost major figures like Trang; by that metric, the mission had failed.
Black finished and bowed heavily.
“Hm….”
Cromhel’s once-menacing gaze softened into a complicated look.
“Elric—he held off the Jasaja Corps alone?”
And what were the Jasaja?
Elites among elites—almost never defeated, and even when they were, they left only a Pyrrhic victory behind.
It seemed his friend had grown far stronger than he’d expected.
“And he even crossed blades with my father-in-law…?”
“Of course, he wasn’t on the Golden Lion’s level.”
“Nonsense. Getting my father-in-law’s attention at all is a feat in itself.”
Cromhel was right.
Had Elric not piqued the Golden Lion’s interest, his head would’ve flown long ago.
“That aside….”
Cromhel trailed off, then went on.
“Even with Father-in-law involved, we came up short. Figures—he’s my friend for a reason.”
Regardless of the Golden Lion acknowledging Elric, Elric had ended up achieving most of what he wanted.
That was the problem.
“So he set the board that way… is the only way to read it….”
Heh, heh!
Cromhel chuckled lightly as he spoke.
It irked him to be blocked—but his friend’s success didn’t feel bad.
Of course, that didn’t mean he could keep laughing.
He let the smile fade, sank into thought for a moment, then called for the chief.
“Black.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“Don’t act rashly. Sit tight for now. Let’s… watch how our friend moves for a bit.”
Cromhel slowly withdrew the blade he’d held to Black’s neck.
He had decided to forgive him.
The man named Elric Merbinger was the only friend—and nemesis—Cromhel acknowledged in the empire.
“Also, keep a constant eye on the movements of both Merbinger and Neresta.”
“Understood.”
With that, Cromhel strode out of the ballroom.
Everyone gone, save for him, the place lay empty.
Step, step.
“Elric, my friend.”
Only Cromhel’s footfalls echoed across the quiet hall.
“I truly am fond of you… but if you pull this again, I can’t say how it’ll end.”
An unreadable smile hung on his lips.
* * *
Clatter, clatter.
The carriage was headed not south, but for the imperial capital.
If all had gone as planned, they would have finished in Huilran and then traveled to the southern Forest of Jewels.
‘The dragons need to grow before I can complete the Spring Design.’
To complete the Spring Design, he had to turn Shina’s Sigil into the Vernal Sigil. The three dragons were bound to Shina’s Sigil.
The Forest of Jewels—prime source of minerals, especially gemstones—was the perfect place to raise dragons.
That had been the destination.
‘For now, we put that off.’
He judged it better to calm the political shockwaves before anything else.
‘Besides, I haven’t fully adapted to the Winter Sigil yet. It might be wiser to master this completely before moving on.’
Mia had been right.
Greedily reaching for more when he hadn’t digested what he had was a sure path to ruin.
Which meant he needed to meet the two remaining members among the Six of Winter.
With that in mind, Elric closed his eyes and began to meditate.
To enter his inner world.
He had to cross the Abyssal Swamp where Hargan waited once more.
Whoosh—
He stepped into his inner world.
As before, Elric sank into the swamp.
Knowing now how dangerous it was, he figured this time would be different.
But—
“…Another failure.”
Just like before, he blacked out and fainted.
Then, from reality, back into the swamp.
Fail, return, and try again.
Again.
And again after that.
.
.
After several attempts—
Elric tried over and over to cross the Abyssal Swamp, only to fail each time.
Deciding he ought to consult the Six of Winter, he returned to where they were.
Mia approached, as if to ask why he was back so soon.
“Hargan. Did you already meet him?”
“No.”
“…?”
Mia almost never showed emotion.
But for once, her expression said she didn’t understand.
‘That’s the face I want to be making.’
Elric let out a long sigh.
“Reason?”
“I couldn’t cross the swamp.”
The other members wore much the same look as Mia.
The Abyssal Swamp was tricky, yes, but they hadn’t thought it would reject Elric outright.
“Maybe it judged you unworthy?”
“No chance. If that were true, we wouldn’t have brought it up first.”
“Is your method wrong?”
“If you step on the surface and—”
A flood of guesses followed—none helpful.
Even when he flared his mana to the limit to wrap himself in protective force, he blacked out before it formed; when he tried to fly over, he blacked out midair and face-planted into the swamp.
He even tried bowing and saying, “I would be honored to meet you,” but…
“Hoo….”
The result never changed.
He couldn’t make sense of it.
“In the end, it means the other side is refusing contact….”
Had something happened to Hargan?
“You don’t keep in touch with him in any other way?”
Damir gave a wry smile and shook his head.
“Hargan’s always been hard to read. Well—except to his lover, Arseus.”
Elric sighed again.
It looked like crossing that swamp would be a problem for a while.
‘There has to be a way—or at least a reason.’
He’d have to find that first.
Then Elric realized, belatedly, that a familiar face among their number was missing.
“By the way, where’s King Yulho? Now that you mention it, I haven’t seen him.”
Mia nodded silently.
“He fought the Golden Lion—and then vanished.”
“Vanished as in…?”
“Went into seclusion.”
Nahatram added an explanation.
“He looked deep in thought. It felt wrong to stop him, so we let him go.”
Elric nodded; he thought he understood.
Back then, the voice he’d heard had carried a tangle of emotions.
It seemed he’d already been thinking of withdrawing.
‘Did he find something?’
If so, it would be remarkable.
For someone like King Yulho to carve out a new frontier—that was a realm where it was hard to guess where he might arrive.
Elric had a good idea where that was.
A demigod.
King Yulho was working to slip the bonds of mortality.
And—
All of that progress would help Elric, too.
‘Alright… that’s enough for today.’
Collecting his thoughts, Elric returned to reality.
* * *
Elric began to sort out what he needed to do.
‘First, the Hyung clan is handled.’
He’d even written a letter and put it in their hands; reaching the family’s lands shouldn’t be a problem.
‘The issue is the imperial side.’
Elric assumed his movements had already been exposed.
‘I need a plan before we reach the capital—a way for Merbinger and Neresta to turn this crisis into an opportunity.’
As his mind spun—
“How was my uncle?”
Tasha asked quietly.
She meant her uncle, Jasaja Bel Bahamut.
She had cast off the name Neresta, yes.
But the Bel she remembered was the uncle who’d been so kind to her.
After his great fight with Gai and his departure from the house, she hadn’t seen him even at official events.
She hadn’t truly seen him this time either.
As a niece, not witnessing his end weighed on her.
“He was…”
Elric hesitated, unsure how to answer, then spoke briefly.
“A warrior.”
There was more he could have said.
Honestly, his impression was of a butcher—nothing more, nothing less.
Yet that desperate hunger to die with something still clenched in his hands—that lingered with Elric.
It felt uncomfortably similar to the thing that remained inside himself.
‘He’s gone now; there’s no need to speak ill.’
He didn’t want to see disappointment cloud Tasha’s eyes.
“…I see.”
A faint, ambiguous smile touched Tasha’s lips.
Clunk!
Suddenly, the carriage stopped.
What now? From the coachman’s box came a slightly trembling voice.
“L-Lady Tasha…!”
Had something happened again?
Or had the Inspectorate agents they thought they’d shaken returned?
The moment Elric and Tasha looked outside, their faces hardened.
They didn’t radiate the same grim menace as the Inspectorate. If anything, their posture was disciplined and their movements refined, as if greeting honored guests.
As if they were welcoming nobility.
But the aura rolling off them was anything but righteous.
A demonic miasma that prickled the skin.
Demons stood before the carriage.
The Mage Who Devoured Talent