Chapter 6: The Original Story

Location: Atlantis Time: 8:51PM

The entire venue fell silent.

That boy who intercepted the sword in that critical moment straightened his body, first shooting an icy look at Chifuyu and the five-colored rooster head, and then lightly moving his fingers. That sword actually shattered in his hand, so easily that it was as if it wasn’t a sword, in fact, but rather something like paper clay.

“Next time do not throw a sword around.”

After saying this, the boy turned and looked at Hou: “Didn’t we say not to go to crowded places?”

“Clearly it was Di who wanted to come…” Hou protested in a low voice.

“Let me introduce you to everyone.”

Completely disregarding the not-so-happy boy, Di pressed on his shoulder and turned him to face us: “A few of you should have already met. This is Chen, who is also one of our school administrators.”

Liar!

That boy looks even shorter than me!

“Shortness has nothing to do with strength.” Senior smacked the top of my head and pushed down hard, not caring at all if this action breaks my cervical spine: “Chen, long time no see.”

The boy nodded and glanced at us: “Good evening.”

“H, hello.” Looking at the boy who was a few centimeters shorter than me, I suddenly felt that his aura was stronger than mine.

With a hum, Chen, who might not have anything else to say to us either, pushed Di toward the exit: “We will be going back, see you next time.”

“Aiya, I just came here.” After a bit of stalling from Di, who wanted to protest, he was still pushed away.

“Then I’ll be going too.” After seeing both his companions leave, Hou, who felt no need to stay here, swiftly ran after them.

Since they’d been causing a fuss for quite a while before, Chifuyu and the five-colored rooster head were probably too embarrassed to keep up the fuss, disappearing into the dance party’s crowd after being pulled apart by people.

“Yang Yang, let’s go dance then.” Seeing all the obstacles vanish, Miao Miao, who continued to remember this thing, reached out to me. Her hand held a flower, which was one of those taken this morning: “In the name of the Buran Fairies’ friendship goddess, I hope everyone will stay friends forever.”

For some reason, I feel as if this scene should have been reversed…Normally girls aren’t the ones presenting flowers…

Reaching out to take that flower, I discovered that this flower was a bit cold, but it gave off a comfortable feeling. Then I held Miao Miao’s hand, allowing her to lead me to the dance floor.

After music began playing again, the venue returned to the atmosphere from before, and everything relaxed.

In fact, when mixed into the crowd, even the most different people wouldn’t be able to tell who is who.

Miao Miao, who led me to dance, moved slowly, and I slowly moved my feet after her.

Honestly, doing this once in a while isn’t so bad.

And just like this, the dance gradually came to an end on a seemingly peaceful night.

The day after the school festival, many people were still in an excited discussion state.

I didn’t find out until later that there were souvenirs and stuff for sale during this school festival, because of Miao Miao, who was fond of collecting things from all sorts of places, running around with the sports competition’s limited edition dolls for a few days.

If I’d known, I would’ve gotten some as souvenirs!

Holding the dance clothes that were cleaned at the left shopping street, I hurried off to Randall’s room early in the morning and knocked to return them. For some reason, the moment Nile opened the door, I thought I smelled something bloody. He even politely invited me in to eat breakfast, but I refused.

I still don’t want to eat breakfast across from a corpse early in the morning.

“Student! Please let me pass quick!” Just when I finished returning the clothes and was about to run downstairs, I heard a loud cry behind me and instinctively dodged toward the corridor. A black mass of a thing suddenly flipped over my head, movements agile like a cat. His hands caught the staircase handrail in the air and he steadied himself, immediately sliding to the bottom along the handrail as if riding a slide.

An expert!

I should be able to learn this trick! If I go downstairs like that in the future, I’ll save more time than if I were to run.

But because that black mass ran too fast, I didn’t notice what just ran down. However, since it is black and is in the Black Dorm, I’m guessing it should be some black robe…

“Let me pass!” Soon after that person slid down, someone rushed out from behind me again. The one this time had a murderous aura, running ahead with heavy booming footsteps: “Bastard! Stop right there!”

I knew the person who rushed out this time. I saw him on the first day I came to the Black Dorm. He was the owner of that bunch of human faces on the door and had even been cursed out by Senior.

“I won’t!” A voice came from far away downstairs. That person must have already run out the Black Dorm: “Student! That’s a meeting gift for you!”

“Stop right there!” The bunch-of-faces owner thunderously stepped on the stairs and charged down to chase the person.

The Black Dorm has also become lively…

Wait, what did he just say about a meeting gift?

After freezing, I suddenly discovered that there was an unfamiliar little bag, which appeared who knows when, stuffed beside my small backpack. I actually didn’t even notice.

That little paper bag was completely white with only a wing-like sticker stuck on the folded seal. After opening it, inside were a couple of little snacks, which looked simple but carried a rich aroma.

What a strange person.

Thinking that I should thank him if I meet him next time, I ran downstairs and out the Black Dorm. I even saw that black robe who had just been chasing the person searching furiously everywhere but being unable to find him at all.

It’s best if I don’t get involved for no reason…This is a battle between black robes and has nothing to do with me…

“Get the hell out!”

Just when I decided to pretend I didn’t see a thing and quickly slip off, a tremendous sound abruptly came from behind me, a sound that is suspected to be destroying the environment, followed by the sound of some resident cursing from a window upstairs.

“Zara! Quiet down!” A certain demon in black lace undergarments grabbed a basin of something that could be hot water or whatnot and poured it from the windowsill upstairs. Then less than a second later, I heard an extremely miserable wail.

…It can’t be that you poured sulfuric acid!?

Nuelle cursed out something I couldn’t understand, rubbing her temples while throwing away the basin and walking back into her room, her black tail even swaying as she went.

Nn, it’s best if I don’t get involved in a battle between black robes for no reason.

“Yang Yang! Let’s go eat dinner together.”

After leaving the Black Dorm, Miao Miao, Chifuyu and the others were still outside, looking for me to eat together like they do everyday.

This is how my life is. It seems like things are starting to calm down.

At least, that’s what I thought before the incident later.

It was two days after the school festival ended, which was also the day Liliya and I arranged.

By nightfall, I had refused the others’ offer to eat together and hurriedly looked for the place we agreed upon.

Just like when we read the book last time, Liliya was already sitting at the spot waiting for me. The table also had a bamboo basket with a napkin on top, which was clearly refreshments she prepared.

“You’re so slow!”

Her spirits seemingly restored, Liliya sulkily said to me, then took off the napkin: “It’s dinnertime, let’s eat first.”

I looked for a moment. Just like before, there were a couple of sandwiches, steaks and lettuce, plus a pot of tea. Luckily, I learned better this time and didn’t eat before coming here.

After thanking Liliya, I sat across from her and began eating with her.

I still didn’t dare to ask about Siovi, because I felt that casually asking her something like this would be too abrupt. If Liliya doesn’t want to talk about it in the first place, asking might embarrass her.

“What are you looking at!?” The person who was just about to eat a sandwich suddenly glared over, and I realized I had been staring at her in a daze without knowing.

“Sorry.” Immediately lowering my head, I pretended to eat very intently.

To be honest, the food Liliya brought over tasted pretty good. It didn’t seem to be from the restaurants, because the restaurants’ utensils always had the restaurants’ mark. It should be from outside.

After we quickly finished dinner, the entire table was cleared away. And so, Liliya took out a thick rectangular object wrapped in a black cloth from her backpack.

Gulping, I know what that is.

The black cloth looked high-quality with a totem exclusive to the black robes embroidered on it.

As if afraid that too much force would damage the book inside, Liliya cautiously opened the cloth layer by layer, until the cover of the book that appeared in my dream was exposed to the air. A heavy aura drifted out with it.

In fact, even now, I still don’t know whether it’s right for me to read this book, but a strange feeling urged that I must.

The black book seemed to have an extremely ancient history. The aura of bygones and the dilapidation of time can all be gleaned from it. It doesn’t look as brand new as in my dream.

Liliya’s fingers stroked the gild on the cover, then turned to the first page.

In that second, my heart seemed to jump along.

Past the cover was a sheet of parchment that had yellowed to the point where I almost couldn’t see the original color. Painted on it was a battle-like scene. There were a lot of people, a lot of blood. I don’t know if Liliya used a spell or if she was drawn in by this book, when many bright silver lights suddenly appeared around us, helping to illuminate the originally-dim pavilion.

After looking at the picture for a while, Liliya turned to the second page. It was still an extremely yellowed paper. I automatically moved closer to her to look, but I couldn’t understand the words on it.

“Nine-Door Shield.” Frowning, Liliya took out her Illusionary Weapon and placed it by her side: “This is the ancient Elven language. I can’t read it either. With Nine-Door Shield, we can manage to parse some of their meanings.”

“Nn.” I nodded. The handwriting in the book was beautiful, so beautiful that I could almost imagine that it was an Elf who wrote it. The black ink still carried a faint silver glow.

After positioning the weapon, Liliya began to decode based on the words above: ‘Written at the very top, which are also the last words to be written, to my beloved companion, the people of the world I love, what is recorded here is the truth that should not be spread…but those who wish to see it…will be able to remember forever. I, the Wind God’s attendant Emmersel, as the witness as well as the recorder of this battle, proclaim only the truth hereafter.’

In truth, there were quite a lot of words on this page, but because Liliya didn’t exactly understand either, she skipped many of them.

‘It actually began with the Icy Fang Elves…The season of blessings arrived, and invitations spread throughout every race. That was the hymn sung to celebrate the birth of the Third Prince.’ Pausing, Liliya frowned again and turned to the next page: ‘At the time, His Highness invited me to stay and write a story for the Icy Fang’s newborn Prince, and I agreed without hesitation. Just as every Elf had chanted, the Third Prince grew to be more beautiful and smart than any of his brothers and even had fearless courage.”

Abruptly stopping, Liliya quickly flipped a few pages, then looked up at me: “The first few pages of this book all seem to be talking about the Third Prince growing up. Do you want to keep listening? It’s all stuff like ‘he’s very smart and did a lot of things.’”

“Ah?”

Being interrupted by her like this, for three seconds, I suddenly couldn’t connect the pieces. It was only after a while that I understood what she was saying: “Uh, how about we skip this first? Did anything happen before the battle?” Seeing how thick that book seemed, it’d probably be morning by the time I finish listening to the whole thing, so I decided that choosing the key points would be faster.

“Wait a moment.” Snapping her fingers and turning the Nine-Door Shield beside her, Liliya studied the words intently. Page by page, the writings that were probably full of praises were turned over. Time also started to pass gradually.

In between waiting, I saw a few transparent things floating near the garden. They looked a bit similar to those I saw in White Garden last time but were not the same batch. They also lurked around in the area, though perhaps they were afraid of the weapon, so they didn’t come too close, watching from afar. After a while, they left.

I yawned when Liliya wasn’t paying attention. For some reason, I kept feeling as if this area has been very quiet today, so still that, apart from the sound of pages flipping, there was no other sound.

This sort of atmosphere is strange. It doesn’t feel like anything good will happen.

“Eih! I got it.” Ceasing to turn the book, Liliya pointed to the words on top after ten or so pages: “This part started to record some weird things, he said: ‘Our Prince had two secret friends. His daily schedule was the same as ever, but at night he would leave the clan with his friends, traveling everywhere and gazing into the distance.’”

Pausing, Liliya exchanged glances with me. We seemed to be able to experience that recorder’s doubts, because his handwriting was a bit hesitant, before he continued to write on.

‘A long time passed like this. No matter who asked, they still had no way of knowing who those two mysterious friends are, but I know. My Prince once quietly told me, because he wished for a recorder to record the truth for him. Those two friends are…’

Liliya stopped.

“Who are those two people?” She just stopped here. I felt a bit nervous and kept thinking that this seemed to be the key point.

“I can’t read it.” Frowning, Liliya, who was clearly embarrassed, shrugged helplessly: “He used very difficult words to describe those two people. Nine-Door Shield can’t translate it.”

Looking at the long paragraph of flowery language succeeding it, I was a bit disheartened.

It can’t be that I’ll actually have to ask Senior to translate?

But I keep getting the feeling that Senior will definitely explode…

“I’ll continue on first. We can see if there’s anyone who understands the ancient Elven language and can translate later.” Liliya patted my shoulder, her tone softened. And so she skipped that paragraph and went on: ‘The Prince and I guarded this secret together. The Wind God was also willing to believe that the prince’s judgement is correct. However, that was time that could never last. Just as underripe fruit will always rot, we had no way of predicting how a life will transform. When winter came, the Prince never went to look for his friends again. The silver-winged bird that sang for happiness also fell silent. I knew, his friends were no longer there.’

‘The recorder cannot do anything for him. The Prince would not speak, so I can only record this period’s quiet air and silence for him. We watched the winter’s Snow Spirit die under the sunlight. The melted snow melted her body back into the earth. When the next winter arrives, she will wake once more.’

The next part was a bunch of nonsense about scenery again, about the wind, flowers, snow and moon. Liliya rapidly went through it and flipped several more pages.

I suddenly felt that the Elves seem to harp on quite often. When they speak, they speak a long string of words. Even Restua has this tendency.

But it does make me feel pretty comfortable when I hear them.

Stopping, Liliya motioned for me to take a look.

Beginning from the page she stopped on, there were suddenly a lot more pictures. Some were attached to the paper from the start, and some were wedged in. Almost all of them came from different people. Each picture’s style was not quite the same; but similarly, these all depicted scenes of war.

There were numerous pictures. Liliya told me that the things that were starting to happen in this time period must have been important, which was why bards and recorders competed to draw such a huge amount of scroll paintings.

“There are also pictures that happened to have the perfect size or smaller to wedge into the book. It implies that the painting site was tumultuous at the time, that there was no way to carry large drawings, and that they needed to use small drawings to draft quickly. It thus means that there were life-threatening things happening at that place at any time and they had to escape at any time, and that its state of affairs also change quickly, requiring many small pictures to continuously represent them.”

[T/N: The original didn’t have any quotation marks but it seems like Liliya was the one speaking.]

Once she said this, I noticed it as well. The majority of the old pictures had different backgrounds.

Some were in forests, some were in palace-like places or streets etc.

It was obvious who the main characters in the paintings were. Half of them were all Elves.

Just like Restua, although the Elves in the paintings were fighting, their limbs moved so beautifully that it was like they were dancing, and the painter even added a faint light to their bodies.

These pictures were arranged according to the time in the book. Each page had a drawing of the same place inserted.

I could gradually tell that most of the pictures from the beginning were of Elves, before other races were slowly added in. The most obvious one should be the Beastmaster Clan. Their animal characteristics can easily be distinguished.

Their common enemy is the Ghost Tribe.

In order to showcase the Ghost Tribe’s wicked and brutal killings, the drawings that weren’t meant to be realistic all used a large amount of black to paint their distorted figures or hideous faces and bodies, causing one to feel completely uncomfortable at first glance.

Just by looking at these pictures, without even reading the words, I knew what it was going to discuss next.

The largest coalition war between the Elves and Ghost Tribe.

After flipping the pictures over slightly, Liliya continued translating from where she left off.

‘My hometown, in the second year of the Abyss of Wind’s succession, which was also the following year when the Prince gradually began to smile and caused us to feel slightly relieved, when autumn’s golden leaves covered the road, a terrible and shocking news was brought by a blood-stained wind.

It was an escaped western brother. By the time the Wind Elves escorted him here, he had almost entered the arms of the Lord God. Unfortunately, the western brother was unable to hold on until the Snow Spirit arrived and passed away, and his news caused panic among all races.

The Ghost Tribe, which is the enemy of all worlds, broke the taboo of time and came to our beautiful land. His evil aura tainted the wilderness of Western Mound. No grass shoot will ever grow there now.

The Western Mound that Elves yearn for was originally a resting place, a beautiful place to soothe the tired body and mind. But ever since that day, only corpses remain there. No one will ever sing with the wind. That barefoot contented lady is unable to step foot on this land as well.

Our king instructed us to prepare to seal off the Land of Ice, but when winter came, the Snow Spirit’s grief-stricken tears melted her cherished ice and snow. From Snow of North’s territory, it became known that our brothers were captured and massacred by the Ghost Tribe at the borders. The atmospheric Elves no longer sing and the wind Elves are also frozen no longer flowing.’

I know almost everything following this. I remember seeing similar records in the Ghost King’s Tomb.

After that, the third Elf Prince had different views from the Elf King, his father. He united the Elven aristocrats and formed the Elven army, before heading to Western Mound, which launched the battle at what is now the Ghost King’s Tomb.

Knowing that I was also aware of this, Liliya skipped it altogether.

At any way, these surface-level stories were more or less the same. After the prince formed the army, he began to repel the Ghost Tribe wherever they were, bit by bit repelling them back to where they first originated.

“That’s strange…” After flipping a few pages, Liliya suddenly narrowed her eyes in confusion before flipping back to those pictures.

“What is it?” I leaned over, not knowing what she was flipping for.

“Logically speaking, someone must have painted the Prince’s portrait. I was going to let first-year you see what the Elf prince looked like at the time, but strangely enough…there’s not a single one here. But that doesn’t make sense. At the time the Prince had several assistants who were always painting by his side, see.” She pointed to a portrait of a person, I who immediately recognized.

By chance, I’ve seen this Elf before.

That time in the Ghost King’s Tomb, the Elven warrior from Firefly Forest.

“These exist, so there should be those of the prince’s.” Liliya unrelentingly searched the pages.

I also found it strange. Since he was the leader of the main forces, someone should have painted him, unless that Prince was transparent…but if that’s so, they would have sketched an empty outline, right?

Or could it be that the Prince actually looked a bit like a passerby and we ignored him thinking he was a regular soldier?

After searching for a while, the two of us had flipped through the entire book without seeing the Prince’s portrait. Not to mention his portrait, there wasn’t even a picture of his shadow.

“I wonder if it was stolen by a fanatic…” Liliya looked very regretful and flipped to the last page again with a bit of anger.

“Wait!” I suddenly grabbed her hand the second second I saw the last page.

Wedged into the last page was a cardboard…It might be a several-layers-thick paper, and stuck on it was the portrait of an Elf.

“Isn’t this Mr. Restua?” Recognizing who it was along with me, Liliya picked up the palm-sized piece of cardboard. Painted on it was someone we both know…someone even the whole school probably knows, the manager of our dorm.

So then he’s at least a thousand years old!

So scary!

The Restua in the picture was actually not that different from the one now and seems a bit younger. His hair was tied back and he showed a warm smile. Beside the picture was the name of the person who painted him at the time. I’m guessing that it’s some Elven painter.

I took the cardboard from Liliya. Due to its age, the lower right corner of the picture was slightly curled.

People, when they see something curled up like this, they would definitely want to pick at it. I am a person, of course I’d also want to.

“Hey! Don’t misuse it!” Liliya smacked the back of my hand hard.

“That hurts!” Your hand is a hammer, “I’m just looking. It’s been here for so long, who knows whether or not there are pests. I’m just seeing if I can stick it back…”

“Enough of that! Put it back!”

I picked at that little corner with my nail and awkwardly had to let go.

Forget it…It’s best if I don’t randomly damage it. This thing is clearly an antique.

“What are you doing here!?”

Just when I gave up, a voice that didn’t belong to me or Liliya suddenly sounded.

At the time, I was scared half to death, so that thing…

Was completely ripped apart by me.