Chapter 231

Luna received a rough idea of the situation from Rize and one thought crossed her mind.

Like Rize, she wondered what had led her to this situation. Also, where did this eye come from?

Other than the eye, she had been living an utterly ordinary life, so she couldn’t fathom why she found herself in this predicament.

‘It must’ve started after meeting Sivar, right? Or was this fate from the beginning?’

Especially after seeing the murals recorded in the cave, she couldn’t help but be intrigued by him.

And from today onwards, there would be even more reasons to pay attention. First things first, there was something urgent.

“Not long from now, the Gaia Order will send someone. It’s because of what Sister Erica did.”

“She might be suspected of being a demon.”

“Yes. It’s highly likely that she’ll be tested with Divine Power again.”

It was immediately related to the rumors about Sivar. There were just too many witnesses.

If it was just one or two people, Rize could handle the silence herself, but there were dozens who had seen it.

Sivar had displayed an unusually intense reaction to the Divine Power of Gaia, especially a response more typical for a demon, which was even more concerning.

“But Sivar is blessed by Lord Chaos, won’t that help?”

“I’m not really sure about that. It’s beyond what I know… I’ll do everything in my power to protect him.”

The best way to avoid the situation was to gain Lord Chaos’ recognition. Chaos, though eccentric, was a true god.

Moreover, in this moment, you could argue that his authority was the highest. After all, isn’t the ‘Saint’ a follower of Chaos?

If Sivar could just show that he was under Chaos’ protection, it’s highly likely that the Gaia Order would overlook it.

“We have to do everything to prevent the Gaia Order from taking Brother Sivar away. Please inform others as well.”

“Of course. But… what if we fail?”

“You will suffer a pain so great that words can’t describe it.”

Upon hearing that, Luna fell into deep thought. She wondered if there were similar contents in the murals.

But no matter how much she pondered, she couldn’t recall any mention of Sivar suffering.

She might have forgotten since she had seen it quite a while ago. The specifics needed to come from Sivar himself.

‘This is tricky.’

If things aren’t careful, the relationship with the Gaia Order might sour. Or perhaps they already viewed them as a thorn in their side.

Honestly, she’d love to persuade the demon. But she knew all too well that it probably wouldn’t work.

They’d lost their only descendant. Their future and hope had crumbled.

“Convincing the demon is completely off the table, right?”

“Yes. Their hatred has grown uncontrollably. We’ve passed the point of persuasion. Even if they take Brother Sivar, their wrath won’t subside.”

“Hmm…”

Either way, a fight was unavoidable. Luna found herself mulling over whether she could actually fight and win against a demon.

Though she had strong allies around her, she had no idea how powerful the demon was. Losing to Kara was a very real possibility.

Recently she had been growing thanks to Rod’s teachings, but… she still felt inadequate.

She needed to at least grow to Kara’s level to have a more comfortable future.

“So, will you be staying at the Academy for the time being?”

“If Sister Erica had listened to me, she would have returned by now… but the water’s already spilled. We’ll have to wait.”

“The Gulrak Order… they won’t come, right?”

For Sivar, Gulrak was the next Order most intertwined after Chaos. Direct contact had been more frequent than with Chaos.

They had even sent a divine spirit to persuade him. The Gulrak Order was certainly quite flustered by this unprecedented situation.

Upon hearing Luna’s words, Rize went “Ah,” and fell into thought. Then, after a moment, she made a hopeful remark.

“Speaking of which, perhaps Lord Gulrak could… easily overlook this. He was practically protecting him.”

“Is dropping lightning considered protection?”

Luna was taken aback. Sivar had faced lightning so many times it was probably double digits.

Though she didn’t know why, if Kara was to be believed, he was likely harboring unholy thoughts.

Nonetheless, if all he did was drop lightning and leave it at that, it seemed Gulrak didn’t totally despise him.

“If Lord Gulrak had been serious, he would’ve turned his back from the moment he sent the divine spirit. But the divine spirit only descended to persuade.”

“Hmm… but isn’t lightning included in Divine Power?”

“It’s simply using Divine Power to control the sky. It’s a transmutation method.”

“Then things could flow easily. Sivar can use lightning, you know.”

Back in the first semester, Sivar had once foolishly challenged Rod to a duel.

At that time, she thought he must have been completely insane, but he had held a hidden trump card. That was the lightning.

Lightning was a power that only those blessed by Gulrak could use. Sivar had displayed Red Lightning as well.

And, of course, he received an outright humiliating etiquette lesson from Rod. She could never have imagined that he would also counter with lightning.

“Oh. Speaking of which, Brother Sivar can use lightning too.”

“Yeah. Even though it’s red, lightning is still lightning.”

“That’s rather… reassuring to know.”

Upon hearing Luna’s words, Rize wore a gentle smile. It was a look of relief.

No wonder—Gulrak had expressed a clear stance, unlike Chaos.

Sivar had directly received a blessing from him, and to forcibly take him away would be sacrilege.

“The Gaia Order probably won’t touch this either. After all, Tartar was recognized as a nation largely due to religion.”

“… But now that I think about it, the Gaia Order sounds pretty bad, doesn’t it?”

A sudden doubt struck her. Listening to Rize made the Gaia Order sound like a bad group.

Rize, upon hearing Luna, went “Ah,” and then wore an ironic smile before speaking.

“Not everyone there is bad. It’s just that…”

“Just that?”

“… I’ll skip over that. It doesn’t feel like the right time to discuss it.”

Rize wore a particularly bitter smile. There was definitely something more to the story.

Luna barely suppressed her curiosity to pry deeper. Just hearing what she had told her was already more than enough.

Either way, thanks to Gulrak, Sivar wasn’t going to get dragged away. Gulrak had helped to untangle what could have been a complicated situation.

‘I need to tell Sivar about this later.’

But did that mean Sivar truly revered Gulrak? That didn’t seem to be the case.

Their relationship was, how should she put it, somewhat intense yet warm.

It was always Kara who tried to mediate between them. In a way, Kara could be considered the most pitiful one.

“But, Saint.”

“Yes?”

“Have you met Brother Sivar before? You seem to know him quite well.”

“…”

At Luna’s question, Rize didn’t answer immediately. She only gazed at Sivar with sad eyes.

She reached out to touch Sivar’s face, then hesitated again. It was a reaction similar to earlier.

After a while of hesitation, Rize withdrew her hand again. With her head lowered, she quietly responded.

“… Yes. I’ve met him. Quite a long time ago.”

“A long time ago?”

“Brother Sivar probably won’t remember. He probably wouldn’t want to. It was a truly horrific experience.”

Luna tilted her head. Rize was probably older than Rod by age.

If she said it was a long time ago, it had to have been decades.

In other words, Sivar could be older than he appeared.

‘For someone like that, he seems to be growing…’

After going through the experiences with illness, Sivar’s face seemed much more mature.

Perhaps his body had grown up while his inner self hadn’t quite matured. After all, he was no one other than Sivar.

An existence that was a contradiction itself, so ordinary sense wouldn’t apply.

‘There’s definitely more to it with the murals…’

Luna glanced at Rize. Rize was looking at Sivar with nostalgic eyes.

She pondered whether to tell him that Sivar knows the future, but time was short. Eventually, she decided to open her long-sealed mouth.

“Um…”

“Mm…”

Just as she was about to speak, Sivar stirred lightly, showing signs of waking up.

When Luna turned her gaze back to Sivar in surprise, Rize spoke up.

“It looks like Brother Sivar is waking up. I’ll head out first.”

“Huh? But…”

“I don’t have enough time to scold Sister Erica.”

If it felt like an excuse, was it just an illusion? It might not be just an illusion.

Rize seemed to lack the confidence to meet Sivar, leaving in a hurry.

“Please take care of Brother Sivar, Luna.”

“Is it okay if I tell Sivar about this?”

“Yes. But you’ll have to convince him well.”

With that, Rize left. Just after she exited, Sivar regained consciousness.

At first, he glanced around with drowsy eyes before sitting up. On the surface, he appeared fine.

“Sivar, are you okay? Do you remember who I am?”

“… Yeah.”

Fortunately, it seemed there wasn’t any problem with his memory. This was probably thanks to his excellent regeneration.

Luna offered Sivar some water to help him clear his mind. He quenched his parched throat with the cool water.

A peculiar silence almost settled in, but Luna broke the silence first.

“You’re probably really confused about why Divine Power reacted negatively to you.”

“…”

“If you’re ready to hear, I can tell you. I have heard something from the Saint.”

“… Tell me.”

Sivar replied with a hoarse voice. It was a response that indicated he was willing to listen.

He still seemed somewhat dazed. However, Luna believed his mind would clear up soon.

Because the secret of his birth was rather shocking. She had been astonished herself, so Sivar would be all the more so.

“Sivar, don’t be surprised, but the truth is…”

Luna struggled to figure out how to start explaining and finally managed to say,

“You were adopted.”

“…”

The subject was suddenly missing.

“… Where? Under the bridge?”

Sivar asked with a look of disbelief.

Either way, he was definitely wide awake now.

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