Elsword – Time Trouble
Chapter 13
3. Purple Quality
The purple haired girl that suddenly appeared between Elesis and the El Search Party, she was a face
that they’ve never seen before.
As the El Search Party were asking each other with eye gestures if any one of them knew this girl,
the girl lightly swung the staff she was carrying.
Staff? No, upon closer look, it was a halberd. It won’t end with just pain if you were to get stomped
by that.
“Don’t ask who I am. You won’t say that you don’t recognise the Great Genius Magical Girl Aisha
right? I won’t let you off easily if anyone says that they don’t know.”
“…..”
The girl gave a cute wink after revealing her name as Aisha. The El Search Party that had been
prepared to fight to the death against Elesis after she revealed her true form were all flabbergasted
by this atmosphere and couldn’t reply.
“Ah, geez~. Why is everyone making such stiff faces when I actually came out to help? You should
all be clapping in joy.”
“……Hmm.”
Elesis standing at the back made an odd fake cough. When Aisha reacted to this and turned around,
Elesis quietly conveyed her message by pointing with her finger.
Aisha saw this and looked down at her own chest area then let out a sigh.
“Ah, oops. I got the Job mixed up a bit. But this isn’t the time for this.”
Aisha murmured as she sighed then narrowed her eyes as she looked at Elesis.
“Alright, you went too far. Go back now, Big Sister Elly.”
“You are the one who’s going too far. Why are you intervening as you please, Dimension Princess?”
“I told you to call me Void Princess when I’m like this. Well, I admit that the name is quite fitting
but ident.i.ty is important after all.”
“That’s not someone who gets them mixed up should say.”
Elesis was replying bluntly but it didn’t look like she wanted to immediately solve this by violence.
Did they know each other?
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But seeing how Elsword was looking at her as if he didn’t recognise her, it looked like only Elesis
and Aisha knew each other.
Add narrowed his eyes and focused his ears on the two’s conversation.
“Elsword and I are talking. Back off.”
“Well, I’ve been respecting that up till now. But I don’t want to this time.”
“……Are you saying you want to fight me?”
Aisha let out a short laugh when Elesis asked with a low voice.
“We both already know that we haven’t clashed before because I was afraid of Big Sister Elly. And
it’s also not because Big Sister Elly was afraid of me.”
“……”
“I’d like you to respect my actions this time, can you?”
Aisha spoke this line then smiled as……she swung her halberd lightly. Plasma was created from tip
of her halberd as two streams of intense light got fired forwards. The El Search Party that was
looking at this thought that she had ambushed during the middle of their conversation. But the
attack wasn’t aimed at Elesis.
Plasma Cutter that had flown far caused a roar far behind Elesis as it broke down dozens of
buildings. Aisha made a pose of looking far out into the distance by putting her hand on top of her
eyebrows. She then exclaimed as if she was bewildered.
“Wow! There were so many demons here! I think even for me it would take around 1 minute to
clean them all up!”
“…..”
“Ah, but with this, maybe it should only take around 30 seconds?”
A threatening blue energy started to gather in front of the halberd. Seeing this, Elesis sighed as she
leaned her sword against her shoulder.
“Just this once.”
“Thanks~”
Elesis didn’t even listen to Aisha’s thanks as she turned around to walk away. The El Search Party
couldn’t believe this situation and stared numbly.
For that Elesis to back down on her own?
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“Big Sister!!”
When Elsword ran forwards as he called out, Aisha clicked her tongue.
“Don’t follow her Elsword. Big Sister Elly let us off because of me. I’ll have to join and fight as well
if you follow her right now.”
“Big Sister!!”
Is he deaf? Add came to his senses and tried to manipulate the Dynamos to stop Elsword.
The ident.i.ty of this self proclaimed genius magician that appeared to help them all of a sudden was
really suspicious. But it was true that they just got helped.
Anyways, letting Elsword run after Elesis right now would be setting things back to point zero. But
unlike Add’s worries, Elsword’s strides as he ran after Elesis gradually slowed down. It soon became
a walk then Elsword came to a stop and looked down at the ground with his fists clenched tightly.
Elesis didn’t even look back once at her brother and was walking away silently. No matter how
desperately he called.
“……”
Elsword stood weakly and didn’t say anything. Add saw his shaking shoulders but pretended he
didn’t see as he checked up on conditions of the other members.
“Everyone is fine for now. But….”
Their injuries were bad but they weren’t bad enough to leave any after effects. They’ll be back to
normal if they eat well and heal up.
Add trailed his words and took a slight glance at Aisha who was smiling proudly.
“Who are you?”
“Didn’t I tell you not to ask that question?”
Aisha showed a slightly gloomy face then quickly smiled again as she lightly swung her halberd.
“Well, it seems like the story will get long. So I’ll invite you all to my villa. We can talk in detail there.”
“Wait, where….”
Wasn’t the Velder Liberation army still fighting with the demon army? Add was about to protest but
stopped to only blink vacantly when the scenery changed in front of his eyes. Just a moment ago
they were fighting inside a destroyed city, amongst the ruins….
Now there was a horizon in front of his eyes.
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“…..Ocean?”
“It’s an ocean.”
“So this is the ocean?”
“It’s been a while since I’ve seen an ocean.”
Everyone else gave their words so it wasn’t Add hallucinating by himself. Add rubbed his eyes then
turned around to stare at Aisha with an astonished gaze.
Aisha was about to open a sunbed that had been leaning against a palm tree.
‘…..Wasn’t this s.p.a.ce warp? And teleporting not only herself but other people as well?’
Add who knew how to use a short distance s.p.a.ce warp himself was so shocked that he could almost
faint. Of course, the quantum teleport that Add used was also an amazing skill. But that was only for
personal teleportation and was only limited to short distances.
But this was clearly an ocean….. It must be extremely far away from Velder that the El Search Party
had been fighting in just now.
“Just……what are you?”
When Add asked while still unable to hide his surprise, Aisha who just finished opening the sunbed
turned around and smiled.
“Didn’t I tell you? I’m the Great Genius Magical Girl Aisha.”
“…..That’s not a proper explanation.”
Add had known the existence of magic but he had never heard that it could accomplish such
nonsensical things. Add would obviously have also tried to master magic if it was something that
allowed you to wield this much power as if it was no big deal.
“Then would you be able to understand if I said I’m the Super Great Aisha that got all her magic
powers back after finding the ring?”
“…..”
It was not a proper explanation since he still couldn’t understand. She was smiling kindly but you
couldn’t tell her inner thoughts.
Just when Add was about to question Aisha again, Rena spoke gravely instead.
“Thank you for inviting us but could you let us go back? Other people are fighting in Velder right
now.”
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“Ah, that’s right. I forgot. I’ll go take care of it right away.”
Aisha disappeared instantly after she replied lightly. The El Search Party couldn’t even get surprised
anymore after she disappeared without showing any signs.
“She’s really gone.”
“…..It’s not an optical camouflage.”
Eve and Add unknowingly shared their opinions about Aisha’s disappearance. It was such a logic
defying power that it was dumbfounding to watch.
You could tell easily that Aisha possessed amazing powers just by seeing how she had teleported the
entire El Search party as if it was nothing special.
“I finished it. There shouldn’t be any problems now.”
To the point where you couldn’t doubt her powers even after seeing Aisha who had appeared on the
sunbed 15 seconds later to drink a grape juice out of the straw.
“Uh, umm….. Is it really okay now?”
Ara asked with an innocent face as if she couldn’t understand. It was obvious that you couldn’t
believe when she had suddenly disappeared then reappeared saying everything was finished now.
“I tied them down with a dimension barrier. The demon army that captured Velder won’t be able to
come out for a while. Well, couple individuals could come out of they wanted to but they wouldn’t
dare come out carelessly.”
“Ah…..I thought I’ve heard the name Aisha somewhere before. I finally remembered.”
When Rena spoke as if she had recalled memory from a far past, Aisha looked at her with an
extremely surprised expression.
“D, do you remember? Big Sister Rena?”
“Velder Kingdom’s court magician. A girl magician who’s supposed to surpa.s.s all the geniuses in
history but no one had ever seen her face. Is that you?”
“…..Oh, you remembered that?”
Aisha nodded with a quite disappointed look.
“Well, that’s right. I’m a court magician. Although I just took the t.i.tle because they begged me so
desperately. Angkor, stop sitting around and work.”
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Aisha made a displeased expression as she let fly a miniature devil that was sitting on her shoulder.
Miniature devil that flew across while flapping its wings was about to open up extra sunbeds then
saw the gears floating near Eve and tilted its head.
Did it think that the gears were same kind as it? Miniature devil called Angkor stopped opening the
sunbeds and circled around Reby and Moby.
“Angkor, didn’t I tell you to work? Do you want to get scolded?”
When Aisha coaxed with a low voice, Angkor winced then hurriedly started opening the sunbeds
again. The El Search Party could tell that Aisha’s mood had worsened and nervously watched quietly.
Since she was a Velder Kingdom’s court magician it seemed like she was an ally….but they couldn’t
tell clearly. Even more after seeing how she was drinking a grape juice with such a displeased
expression.
“Umm….”
“Thank you for helping. But I’ll have to ask a couple of questions. But first, we’d like to treat our
injuries.”
Add cut off Rena’s words then requested the most urgent thing first. Aisha narrowed her eyes then
snapped her fingers.
Then a golden circle surrounding Add and the El Search Party was formed then everyone’s wounds
started to heal gradually. Not just their wounds but their clothes were getting recovered as well. As if
time was getting rewound.
“Magic is…quite surprising.”
“It’s amazing!”
Even Eve who had a strong pride in Nasod’s technology couldn’t hide her amazement. Ara looked
like she didn’t know how to react as she stroked the place on her body where the bleeding wound
had been before.
Add also realized his body had recovered to a perfect state within couple of seconds. But he couldn’t
stay amazed like the others. He got that Aisha was a magician of unimaginable caliber…..but that
wasn’t a reason to trust her blindly.
“Since you are all healed now, go take a look around the island for some mood change. I’ll call
everyone when dinner is ready.”
Aisha spoke these words then closed her eyes. It seemed like she was about to take a nap so Add
spoke to Rena.
“Go take the others and look around. Especially…”
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Add made an eye gesture to point at Elsword who hadn’t spoken a word since Elesis had left.
You couldn’t even ignore him if he was looking like that.
Rena realized what Add was trying to say and took the others and walked away along the beach. Add
opened his mouth when the others had gone far away enough to the point where the sound of them
exclaiming at the beautiful scenery couldn’t be heard anymore.
“You, just what’s your ident.i.ty?”
“Sometimes, a magical girl who changes using power of the moonlight. Sometimes, a dark magician
who rules over darkness after making a contract with the Demon G.o.d. Sometimes, a grand magician
who freely manipulates power of the elements. Shortened to five words A-i-s-h-a. Lengthened to
Magician Aisha. If you’re asking about the very essence, the Great Genius Magician Aisha.”
Her self explanation came out fluently but it was an incoherent chatter and didn’t digest at all.
Judging by what Rena said, she must be a Velder Kingdom’s court magician…..
“How come you have so much power? No, why didn’t you do anything if you had this much power?”
“I helped you and now you’re whining to me about why I only observed and didn’t help? Since
when did you become a brat like Elsword, Add?”
“…..”
Add couldn’t speak when Aisha shot back while opening only one eye. Well, what he said did sound
like the person who just got saved from drowning asking for their savior’s belongings….. But he still
couldn’t pa.s.s this over by just replying ‘Oh is that so?’.
“What’s your relationship with Elesis?”
“Is it so strange for the Velder Kingdom’s strongest leader of the Red Knights and its court
magician to be acquainted?”
Aisha asked with a tone as if she was asking if there was something wrong.
“I can tell with a single glance that you are no mere acquaintances. Isn’t it strange for a woman that’s
merciless even to her own brother to back off with you just saying couple words?”
“Would it be an acceptable answer if I said…..we were comrades that had been together before but
now separated because our purposes disagreed?”
Aisha replied back with still only one eye opened. There was nostalgia mixed into her voice as if she
was recalling her memories.
“I’m answering you because I know that you’re asking in the place of everyone else. Be thankful.”
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How can she be so impudent? But it was kind of understandable considering her skills.
She looked around Add’s age on the outside….. But her skills were honestly terrifying. Didn’t she
make Elesis, who had driven the El Search Party into a brink of annihilation, back off with just
couple words and a light(?) display of skill?
“Alright, leaving that aside. What do you plan on doing next? Shouldn’t you quickly liberate Velder
now?”
“I have no such intention.”
Aisha closed her eyes again then stretched out her arms as she yawned. She totally looked sleepy.
Add was a bit confused at this unexpected reaction from Aisha. Of course, it wasn’t because Add
had suddenly sprouted patriotism towards the Velder Kingdom, or that he had a sudden surge of
righteousness about how Velder’s suffering citizens should be liberated soon as possible.
But shouldn’t it be sensible for this girl who had a t.i.tle of the Velder Kingdom’s court magician to
have these thoughts instead?
“You can perform this much amazing magic. But you’re saying that you’ll just watch the demons run
amok in Elrios?”
“You now even got a talent for oration? Why don’t you become a politician?”
Aisha let out a laugh as if she was amused. Actually, even Add was a bit embarra.s.sed after he had
said it. Wasn’t it basically saying something that wasn’t on his mind just so he could urge other
people to do something?
But Aisha didn’t change her mind despite how Add had asked while enduring embarra.s.sment.
“I have various restrictions as well so I can’t wield my powers however I wish. Also, the current
situation isn’t even bad enough for me to have to step up. Most of all, this is my first leisure time in
a while so I want to rest for a bit.”
“……”
Well, she would have acted already if she was going to change her mind from Add who was a total
stranger trying to convince her. Aisha’s tone was as if she had finished all her duties after she saved
the El Search Party from a brink of annihilation and restricted the Velder’s demons.
Just this much was amazing already. Didn’t she accomplish something that anyone else couldn’t
even have dream of within just couple minutes?
He didn’t know what the restriction was but if Aisha could change her mind, then everything will
be….
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“Can you continue to….”
“I refuse.”
Aisha didn’t even bother listening to Add as she cut him off. Add shut his mouth in shame after
getting his inner thoughts found out.
Aisha opened her eyes and raised her upper body and spoke as she looked at Add.
“This is the last time I’m helping you guys. I understand you got scared by Big Sister Elly but don’t
think about relying on me anymore.”
“Who said I got scared?”
Aisha laughed when Add raised his temper.
“You don’t have to be embarra.s.sed. Even I don’t want to face Big Sister Elly too much. Well, we’re
actually avoiding each other.”
“…..”
Add couldn’t say anything at this consolation that wasn’t actually consoling. If Aisha came with the
El Search Party right now, everything will get solved lightning fast. Such a powerful magician, wasn’t
she probably the most powerful magician in history?
But Aisha clearly revealed her intention to refuse.
“Saving Eve isn’t my task. It’s yours. Am I right?”
“…..”
Does magic also allow you to read minds? But considering how she knew everyone’s names, and
how she had personally come to save the El Search Party, Aisha seemed to know a lot about their
group.
Although she still wouldn’t know about time travel….. Add examined Aisha but she had her eyes
closed and was bathing in sunlight.
“If you’re done talking, why don’t you go take a walk around while relaxing? You didn’t have any
moment to rest recently right?”
“I won’t trust everything that you say.”
Add spoke bluntly and moved his steps. Aisha behind him was making an empty laugh but he
ignored it. He walked along the beach following footprints that the others members left behind.
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Add was silently walking along the beach then he realized that footprints were staggered all over the
place. You could distinguish them if you looked carefully.
Thin footprints were Rena’s, since she walks with light steps.
The flawlessly precise ones should be Eve’s and the ones with dizzy and disorderly strides must be
without a doubt Ara’s.
But the footprints were separated. Crossroads, Add hesitated for a moment in the place where the
footprints separated into a beach and a forest.
Where Eve headed was the forest…. But what can he do by meeting with her right now?
He even heard from her to let’s never see each other’s face again after the business with Elesis was
over. Of course, Add wasn’t intending on accepting those words quietly…… But nothing would get
solved by meeting with Eve without any plans.
“Tch.”
Although Add didn’t like it, he walked along the beach. The scenery of the beach where the white
foams broke after hitting the rocks and blue water sweeping in and out of the golden sands was truly
beautiful.
Almost to the point where the fact that they were risking their lives to fight Elesis a while ago felt
like a dream.
“……”
Add unknowingly stroke his neck and gulped. If things went wrong just a little bit……his head
would have gotten chopped up by Elesis. And there were actually instances where it almost
happened. This wasn’t just for him. It was the same for the other members as well.
Add stopped to look across the horizon and muttered on his own.
“What should we…..do now?”
Aisha pushed the El Search Party away asking them to take some moments to rest…..
But Add couldn’t follow this. His head became so complicated that no thoughts came to him. No,
there was one thought that came up clearly, but he didn’t want to admit it.
They lost.
The El Search Party lost against Elesis.
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Add who could time travel, Elsword who threw himself into the fight despite her sister being the
enemy, Ara who fought braver than anyone else, Rena and Eve who a.s.sisted in every critical
moment.
Even though they threw the entirety of the El Search Party’s abilities against her…..they still lost to
Elesis. Bringing out her true abilities was their limit.
It was an indisputable defeat.
“…..Kukuk.”
Add let out a dejected laugh. Even though he had the power to rewind time, there was absolutely no
possibility that he could fight Elesis and defeat her.
Right now, he should be thankful that he even survived through the ordeal. Add hated himself for
thinking like this, for being glad that he was just able to survive….. It was way too pathetic.
“Kahahahahaha!!”
“Ahaha!!”
Add who was bursting out into laughter immediately stopped when someone else laughed along
with him. Was this the feeling of where someone was letting out their feelings alone but realized that
someone else was listening in on them? When Add got surprised and turn around, he discovered a
girl cheerfully running along the beach.
Black hair, white clothes. She was far away but it was obvious who she was.
Ara who had been cheerfully laughing and running by herself saw Add and waved her hand towards
him. She didn’t slow her speed down at all as she ran towards Add.
“So Mr.Add is here too?”
“…..”
Add was at a loss for words when he saw Ara smile without any folds on her face. How can she
change her mood so quickly? She was very cheerful right now as if she had completely forgotten
about the fact that she was fighting with her life on the line just a while before.
Ara didn’t mind Add’s dumfounded gaze as she looked around the ocean again. The ocean wind
made her long black hair wave.
“Ah, look. Mr.Crab is walking over there!”
“……”
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Ara discovered a crab that was scurrying busily along the beach and called Add over with a hand
gesture. Ara crouched down and enjoyably watched the crab moving then waved her hand towards
Add to urge him to come over.
She totally had an att.i.tude of enjoying a vacation.
“Just how are you so…..”
Regardless of how Add sighed or not, Ara was now picking up a conch sh.e.l.l and putting it near her
ear to listen to the sound coming from inside. She was totally having fun.
Add had realized this late but Ara had her shoes off and was barefoot. She carefully approached to
the point where the waves reached and dipped her ankles in sea water.
“……”
Anything he said would be useless at this point. Add was dumbstruck but he still couldn’t say
anything to Ara.
Wasn’t Ara the one who had to go through most life threatening moments? Eun didn’t come out to
fight and Ara had to stay in the front line facing Elesis’ swords strikes with only her spear skills…..
She had a right to relax and rest like this.
“Mr.Add should come here too! It feels cool!”
“…..I’m fine.”
Ara did her duties. She fulfilled all her obligations as the member of the El Search Party. No one
could blame her or tell her to bear this heavy weight of defeat.
“But it feels really cool.”
“I said I’m fine. Where’s Rena?”
Add refused Ara’s request and asked for Rena’s whereabouts. The El Search Party’s leader was Rena
so he should discuss their future plans with her.
The El Search Party as they were right now couldn’t defeat Elesis. They had to admit this fact then
start thinking about their next course of action.
“She’s under the tree over there.”
When he looked towards the far off direction tip of Ara’s hand was pointing to, he could see a
person sitting modestly under a palm tree.
“We’re going to have a serious talk now so don’t get in the way. Stay here and play.”
“Will you play together with me after you’re done?”
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Add felt a bit annoyed when Ara asked while smiling merrily. No matter how naïve Ara was, this
was after such things had happened. Wasn’t she too carefree?
When Add shot a gaze at her, Ara slightly turned her head around to avoid his gaze.
“Because there’s no point in being restless.”
“…..”
Add instinctively realized what she meant and swallowed the words he was about to say.
It wasn’t that Ara didn’t really have any thoughts. The fact that she lacked the skills to face Elesis,
she should know this better than anyone else without having someone else telling her.
“I was actually going to start training right away but Lord Eun stopped me. So I decided to relax for
today.”
“Yes….. Go ahead and relax.”
“Then will you play together with me after you’re done talking?”
Ara spoke with a smile but Add ignored and headed towards Rena.
Well, he could play along with her for a bit if he felt like it after he finished talking with Rena.
Rena was sitting quietly under the palm tree’s shade and looking towards the horizon with her legs
put together prettily. When Add approached close, she turned her head towards him and made a
beautiful smile.
“How’s your body?”
“There’s no problem. I can fight again if I had to.”
Add replied bluntly then stared down at Rena while standing still. Rena was smiling as usual but they
couldn’t converse normally.
“Like I said before, my calculations were off. I made a mistake.”
“That wasn’t Add’s fault.”
Rena shook her head but Add couldn’t accept it.
“That’s my fault. I should have known…..”
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He even had the power to go back in time but still hadn’t realized Elesis’ true abilities. Of course
there would have been a limit because Add wasn’t a warrior…. But he still couldn’t shake off the
guilt.
His calculations were wrong. He didn’t want to admit this but he had to.
“You can do well next time.”
“I’m not crying to have you comfort me. What are we going to do now?”
“I don’t know. What should we do?”
Rena replied with a voice that was soft as a spring wind and looked up at Add to seek for an answer.
Add was about to urge her to answer but realized that there was a gloom under the tip of her smile
and stopped.
Rena spoke first after a moment.
“I’m sorry. My thoughts were wrong. I’ve got nothing to say to Raven now.”
“It’s not something you should apologize for. It’s my plan that was wrong.”
Add repeated his words with a strict tone as if he was scolding her.
The El Search Party had moved perfectly according to Add’s instructions. Didn’t Elsword even
surpa.s.s Add’s calculations and displayed transcending abilities to defeat Elesis at least once?
“But…..”
“I’m not doing this so we can lick each other’s wounds. Let’s just end this by saying it was a mistake
in my calculations. I’m asking about what we should do now.”
“…..”
“That magician called Aisha says she doesn’t intend to help anymore.”
Their lives had been barely saved from the clutches of death by an abrupt helping hand. Nothing
would change even if they went back to Velder.
Elesis will be waiting for them and the El Search Party cannot defeat her.
“I’m not too sure myself.”
When Rena honestly admitted, Add closed his eyes then let out a sigh.
No, shouldn’t this be obvious? Even Add himself was stifled and restless right now. That was why
he ended up forcefully questioning Rena right now. No matter how extremely skilled Rena was, she
wouldn’t know more and look ahead more than Add who could rewind time.
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Even Eun could have been more helpful in this situation. But judging by how Ara was playing by
herself far away, Eun didn’t look like she wanted to come out and help.
“You must have been troubled as well. Sorry, I said something dumb. Let’s talk about this later so
rest up for now.”
“Yes, Add too.”
“Also….”
Add held out the hand he had behind his back. It was a conch sh.e.l.l that he picked up on the way.
“Listen to this if you get bored.”
“Are you giving it to me?”
Rena asked with a surprised expression. Add replied bluntly then turned his body around.
“They’re everywhere anyways.”
“Thanks.”
Stop thanking me for something so useless. Add spoke this in his mind then moved his steps. Ara
was waving her hand telling him to come over quickly but he ignored and got on the Dynamos.
Only after Add had forcefully questioned Rena, he realized that he was uneasy, that he was lost.
He needed some time alone to think about what he should do next.
Evening, Aisha’s villa.
The El Search Party sat around the table and quietly ate the dinner that Angkor had supposedly
made. They were simple foods consisting meat, soup and vegetables but the qualities of the
ingredients were nice so it tasted good.
But even Elsword and Ara who would have normally been talking busily were just eating quietly.
Only the owner of the villa Aisha talked lively amidst this deathly silent dinner table.
“How is it? This is Angkor’s cooking. Isn’t it good? It was a big problem before when Angkor
couldn’t even chop up a slice of meat.”
“It doesn’t taste bad.”
Add had to answer her accordingly because no one else answered. Aisha stretched out her chest and
nodded proudly.
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“You won’t find any other magicians like me that can make a Demon G.o.d prepare meals! You guys
should also make sure to get a good taste of this.”
“I’ll do that.”
Seriously, someone say something. Add answered accordingly while muttering in his mind. He had
to talk because he didn’t like the current atmosphere of this table.
Everyone was mechanically chewing the food in front of them. Eve, Elsword, Rena and Ara all had
a depressed expression and didn’t say a word.
Add boiled up from inside when he saw them all nibble with a gloomy faces. Add pushed down and
suppressed this unknown displeasure rising up from within him as he swallowed some vegetables
without chewing properly.
“Alright, if everyone had enough to eat, then let’s go take a bath with just all the girls. We even have
warm water here. It’s better to go together.”
“….Alright.”
At Aisha’s suggestion, Rena got up from her seat as if she didn’t have much appet.i.te in the first
place. The first words Rena spoke after sitting down in the dinner table was this, she wasn’t the
usual Rena. Eve and Ara also quietly followed Aisha.
“Angkor, wash the dishes after.”
After Aisha’s words, a silence descended upon the dinner table. It was obvious because only
Elsword and Add was left.
Well…no one said anything even when everyone was sitting together.
“…..Tch.”
Add dropped his spoon in displeasure. He really didn’t like this. Elsword had already put down his
fork long ago and was breathing thinly.
Add looked at Elsword who looked like he had become a statue then frowned.
Why was everyone acting so unsightly? It was an atmosphere as if someone amongst them had died.
Well, many of them did die in the other timelines but weren’t they all alive right now? Of course,
Add was also stifled, dejected and couldn’t think of anything about the future after he had faced
Elesis.
But was there any need for others to be like this as well? Weren’t the El Search Party composed of
bunch of softies in the first place? Why were they acting like the world had ended from mere
something like this?
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“Big Brother.”
He realized a moment later that Elsword had called him. When Add didn’t answer, Elsword called
quietly again.
“Big Brother Add.”
“…..What?”
He didn’t’ feel like answering but it was even more difficult ignore. Elsword had opened his mouth
for the first time after they had fought Elesis. Well he could have talked about many things with Eve
before….. But chance of that was small considering how Eve wasn’t saying anything as well.
“We lost.”
“……Yes.”
He didn’t have to ask what they had lost to. Elsword’s body shook from the shame and feeling of
defeat towards himself. He trailed his words almost like a groan.
“…..I hate myself for thinking that I’m just glad to be alive.”
This was an annoying thing to hear for Add, but he didn’t feel like threatening Elsword to stop. He
could sense Elsword’s pain, his self-depreciating rage.
“I finally met Big Sister. I was able to fight……..because you told me. But we lost.”
“……Yes.”
Elsword’s back shook thinly.
Elsword had realized how far the sun that he thought he could finally grasp in his hand, how far
Elesis’ back that looked like he could reach if he just stretched out his hand a bit further actually was
and was despairing.
“……I’m sorry.”
“…..”
Add felt furiously annoyed but he still couldn’t hit Elsword. Add didn’t know where to direct the
fist that he had held up. He was actually planning to strike Elsword’s head once but that would only
hurt his hand.
“I’m sorry for putting everyone in danger. If only I didn’t hesitate in the end……”
“Stop talking. It’s annoying to listen to.”
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A sharp voice, Add’s emotions were contained in his voice. He could tell what Elsword with his
head drooped down was regretting about, the reason why his knees were shaking.
If Elsword had struck down Elesis immediately, then maybe Elesis wouldn’t have gotten any chance
to reveal her true skills. Then there shouldn’t have been any danger of the El Search Party getting
annihilated. Aisha’s intervention was truly unexpected; it was basically a rescue that came from the
heavens.
Elsword was blaming himself for putting everyone else in danger because of his hesitation.
“Stop talking.”
Unlike the forceful words Add spoke, his voice was soft to the point where it surprised Add himself.
His fist had loosened before he knew it. His hand was patting Elsword’s head.
Add pretended that he didn’t know anything, pretended that he couldn’t hear anything as he looked
forwards.
How could he blame someone who was apologizing for not being able to strike down someone
most precious to him with his own hands? Add put aside all the bad emotions, all the bad memories
of Elsword from the past and bitterly moved his hands.
He couldn’t blame this guy who was crying in regret and self-depreciation.
“That’s enough.”
“……I’m sorry.”
As a man himself, he had to pretend that he couldn’t see these tears filled with regret.
Deep into the night, Add confirmed that Elsword was sleeping then carefully raised himself and left
the room. He couldn’t sleep at all because he couldn’t settle his feelings.
Add stopped in front of a room’s door that he had kept in his mind beforehand and exhaled deeply.
He had no choice but to try.
Add made his decision then opened the door and entered the room. But unlike his expectations, the
room’s owner, Aisha was sitting pompously on her chair with her chin resting on top of her hands.
She hadn’t changed her clothes despite how it was deep into the night and was staring quietly at Add
standing on the doorsill.
It was as if she had known Add would come to meet her.
“Coming into a lady’s room without a knock this late at night? There’s no worse discourtesy. I’ll turn
into a frog if you do this one more time.”
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“Cooperate.”
“I’m not changing my decision. This is the last time I’ll help you guys. Shouldn’t you be glad just
from the fact that I’ve kept the Velder Liberation army safe?”
She was a powerful magician that even made Elesis back off. Add would be no match for her if he
ended up fighting her.
But he couldn’t avoid the things he had to say just because of their differences in strength.
“I’m not asking you to use your magic to do something. I don’t even expect you to. Of course…..I’d
be thankful if you did.”
Add quickly thought and added to his words. It would be a lame thing to do, but if Aisha decided to
help them, he could to raise both of his arms and welcome her with cheers.
“Then what do you want me to help with?”
“You must have seen already during the dinner today, everyone is a mess right now. We’ll lose even
fights we can win.”
They already lost to Elesis. Then what should they do next? Just because Rena, Ara, Elsword and
Eve were depressed, Add couldn’t afford to be the same.
Let those softies do whatever they want. Coming up with the El Search Party’s strategies and plans
was Add’s task.
He didn’t even need to be shy about it.
“You want me to help you with cheering them up? Why should I do that?”
“Didn’t you bring us here for that purpose?”
Add snorted. When Aisha made an expression as if she was saying ‘Oh would you look at this guy?’,
Add didn’t hesitate as he explained.
“If we the El Search Party were meaningless existence to you, then there wouldn’t be any reason for
you to come personally to stop Elesis. Since that goes against the restriction you talked about. On
the contrary, you were interested in us enough to the point where you risked your own restriction to
come and keep us alive.”
“……”
“You already knew Elsword and Rena’s names.”
She must have had a way to know since she was a magician. Add laid out the facts he could think of
then gave his conclusion.
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“Aren’t you trying to have us defeat the Demons? Otherwise, there wouldn’t be any reason for you
to go out of your way to save us and even provide us with a meal.”
It was a reason that everyone hadn’t thought of because they were so caught up in their defeat from
Elesis. But Add was able to think of this obvious question because he was slightly more calm
minded than the rest.
What was the reason for such a big shot magician like Aisha, who was probably the most powerful
magician in history, to personally save the El Search Party then even provide them with lodging and
meal? She wouldn’t suddenly show good will towards them when they had never met each other
before. She probably had something she wanted from them.
“Am I wrong?”
“It’s not a correct answer…..But should I say it’s not wrong either?”
Aisha made a slightly impressed smile then got up from her chair. Aisha faced Add and declared
with a confident pose by putting her hands on her waist.
“Well, fine. Then I might as well cooperate up to a certain extent. Of course, we’ll do this my way. I
won’t take any objections.”
“…..”
“You do as I say. You don’t have any objections right?”
I’m trying to do something. There’s no way someone who will object to my methods can exist right?
Can I get rid of that person if they exist? ……It was a smile only a person with this kind of mindset
could make.
“F….fine.”
It felt like he got caught on a leash when he had originally come to negotiate. But he didn’t want to
look weak after coming this far.
Also, Add generally agreed with the plan that Aisha presented to him. Aisha spoke fluently as if she
had already planned this beforehand.
Aisha finished the conversation which was actually a notification rather than a discussion.
“Also, make sure to knock next time. Aren’t you lacking delicacy when dealing with girls? No
wonder why, the only guy around you is….”
Aisha narrowed her eyes then clicked her tongue. It looked like she had recalled something
unpleasant.
“Alright, I’m going to sleep now so go back. Ask Angkor if you want some late night snacks.”
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Aisha spoke then grabbed Angkor that was flying around her then threw it towards Add. Angkor
came flying with a low scream then flapped its wings as it flew around Add. Judging by its miserable
expression….. It must get overworked by Aisha with various tasks.
Well should I go back now then? Add left the room without saying any parting words then closed
the door. Sigh came out of his mouth as the tension eased.
“I don’t like this.”
Negotiations while in a disadvantageous position never goes well. But only person who could take
care of this kind of task in their group was him. Well Rena possibly could, but she was way too
trusting towards people and goodhearted……and she was feeling dejected right now.
“Just why is everyone feeling so dejected…..?”
“It’s a sad story.”
Add was so shocked to the point where he almost fainted from a voice that abruptly came from
beside him. When he looked carefully across the corridor, a shadow was leaning its back against the
corridor’s wall. A dim silhouette shown by the moonlight, you could tell who it was from the
blinding white hair.
“You now don’t even sleep at night and pop out?”
“Ara is completely asleep. And I slept during the day.”
It was night’s Eun who had exchanged positions with day’s Ara. When Eun’s face was revealed as
she approached, Angkor who had been floating around Add got surprised and dove into Add’s chest.
“Did your talk with Aisha go well?”
“You already look like you know everything. Do I have to explain?”
Eun opened her eyes narrowly when Add replied sarcastically.
“My, boy seems quite upset. What is boy upset about? I was actually in the middle of being quite
impressed by boy’s bold actions.”
“…..”
Add knew why he was upset, why they all had a bitter taste in their mouths.
Sense of defeat from Elesis? Sense of despair? Add had already experienced that disgustingly a lot
during his fight in Elder. Of course, it was begrudging that Elesis was an extremely mighty existence,
an existence that they couldn’t surpa.s.s as they were now……But wasn’t this anything new?
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How mighty did Shadow Master seem when he encountered it for the first time in Elder? Add was
defeated in that fight and wasn’t able to save Eve. On the other hand, everyone had survived
through this fight with Elesis.
He didn’t like how they were all lost in a sense of dejection. He couldn’t leave this be.
“Just telling them to be glad that they were able to survive is such a cruel thing to tell them. Of
course, it might actually be true considering Elly’s skills…. But it’s difficult to come to terms with
that on one’s own.”
Add gave up thinking when Eun spoke as if she had seen through all his inner thoughts. Eun was
smiling voluptuously as she looked outside beyond the window to look up at the moon hanging in
the night sky.
“Shouldn’t you have come to me first for discussions like this? Why are you asking for help from a
magician you’ve never met before? Boy has quite a harsh side to him sometimes.”
“It’s was not a discussion. I’m getting her to cooperate.”
Add drew the line as if he was telling Eun to stop saying something strange. This wasn’t the first day
Eun was acting like this, but she felt displeasing to him to the core right now.
“No, it’s because I really cannot understand. Wouldn’t this moment where everyone is discouraged
the moment where boy could secretly achieve his desires? Wouldn’t it be quite possible to make Eve
look around if you soothe her carefully right now?”
“Hmph.”
It’s not like he hadn’t thought about this. No matter how Eve had declared one-sidedly that they
were strangers after this mission, that was before they had fought Elesis.
It wouldn’t be hard to earn some points if he carefully soothed Eve who should be dwelling in
helplessness and sense of defeat.
“That’s not my way.”
“Then what is the boy’s way?”
“Kukukuk, you’ll find out later.”
Add let out an exaggerated laugh in order to block Eun’s question.
Well, it was true that he didn’t like this situation. People that had been always boisterously talking
with each other all now had a gloomy face and was silent as if they had become mutes…..Being
amongst them strangely made his insides boil up.
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Maybe it was a feeling like, how someone who had always been annoyed by their family’s happy
flower filled atmosphere…..then couldn’t stand around and watch when it suddenly became a
funeral atmosphere? It wasn’t just this. In Add’s point of view, you couldn’t technically say that this
fight with Elesis was a defeat.
Add’s initial objective was to protect Eve from getting destroyed by the demons. Then additional
objectives that were added during his fight with Elesis were to make sure that Rena and Elsword
didn’t die either.
All of those had been accomplished. Except for the fact that they thought they could almost defeat
Elesis but it wasn’t true at all.
Although Add was quite surprised that Elesis hadn’t shown her true skills up till that moment, and
annoyed at his own miscalculations…..this wasn’t a defeat. He had at least accomplished his goals.
“Well fine, I’m also quite antic.i.p.ating this so I’ll play along.”
Eun was focusing on pulling Angkor’s ears as she made a beaming smile. It was a very attractive
smile but Add didn’t even give an eye and walked past her.
“Just don’t get in the way and ruin it.”
“How can I think of such things when boy is worrying so much for the sake of others?”
Add replied bluntly to her teasing tone.
“I just don’t like this. That’s all.”
As Add went back to his room leaving Eun behind, he organized his mind.
Alright, let’s say there’s this somewhat dislikable sculpture. At first, he thought that it looked
ridiculous. But as he carried it around with him because of some circ.u.mstances, and as he saw and
saw it again, he discovered in some point, that there was some good parts about it. It’s unexpectedly
not too bad; he had even come to think this way. It was to the point where he thought, well, I could
compromise to bear and carry it around with me for longer.
But what happens if that sculpture was damaged not because of him but by someone else’s hands?
Who was it that had carried around that sculpture all this time? It was obvious to get annoyed when
the sculpture got crumpled by some random person that popped out of nowhere.
“It’s really displeasing.”
It was a sculpture that was destined to be shattered. The other members would all become his
enemies the moment when Add steals the Core that’s basically Eve’s life. All the smiles and overly
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soft kindness he had seen before would disappear and they’d shake in anger as they point their
weapons at him.
Then wouldn’t it be better to have the other members continue to dwell in despair like this? That
was the correct way to think when you considered in terms of gains and losses…..but Add was
already beyond the point of considering such things.
His obsession for the sculpture was transcending his calculations. Although he knew that it wasn’t a
very profitable thing to do, he was so annoyed right now that he couldn’t stand it.
“In the best possible moment….with my own hands.”
Add stopped his steps and clenched his fists.
That’s right, the moment when Eve turns around to look at him, during the moment when the El
Search Party are caring for each other with overly soft hearts like they always do….. That’s when
Add will achieve his goal.
He had to teach those overly soft hearted fools the bitter taste of the world. Shouldn’t they then live
with proper senses after Add goes back to the past? You don’t trust other people so blindly. You
don’t open your heart to someone so blindly. They’ll realize this obvious truth all too late.
“Kukukuk.”
This was the future Add had to achieve. His current actions were just him hiding his claws and fangs
in order to achieve this final goal.
Add engraved on his own heart again.
Do not forget.
He needs Eve’s Core in order to go back to the past where he’s from. The El Search Party will be
demolished the moment Add achieves his goal.
“…..Even if it breaks, I’ll break it myself.”
He couldn’t let somebody else leave a scratch on it