The Heiress Who Answered a God's Invitation — Chapter 10 · Chapter 10

Chapter 10

The southern forest was deeper than I'd expected.

The trees grew thick. Sunlight filtered down in thin beams through the leaves. Moss-covered rocks. Damp earth. Birdsong. The buzz of insects. It felt different from the mountains near the dragon's lair. If that place had been rugged and wild, this one was quiet and humid.

Lina walked ahead, studying the map.

"The herb-gathering area is a little farther in. It's called moonlight grass, and apparently it grows near shaded rocks."

"Got it."

I followed Lina, but my head was still full of the god's words.

'Dragons only know half the truth.'

What was the other half? The true cause of the Great Rupture? Or the real reason I'd come to this world?

"Sis, over here!"

Lina pointed beneath a rock. Silvery leaves were glowing faintly. Moonlight grass. Just like its name, it was an herb that gave off a soft light like moonlight.

"It's pretty."

"Pretty, right? They say it's an ingredient for an antidote. Apparently it sells for a lot."

Lina carefully began digging up the herbs by the roots. I knelt beside her and gathered some too. The earth smelled rich. Dirt got under my fingernails. It was similar to when I'd gone into the mountains to pray back in Korea. Being surrounded by nature always put me at ease.

It happened when we'd dug up around ten stalks.

The ground beneath my feet lit up.

"...Huh?"

I looked down. There was something beneath the moss. A stone floor. No, not a stone floor. Something had been carved into it. A circle, filled with intricate geometric patterns. A magic circle.

"Lina, wait—"

Before I could finish, the magic circle activated.

Light exploded, blindingly bright. I instinctively shut my eyes. It felt like my body was being sucked inside. There was no up or down. I couldn't tell whether I was falling or rising.

And then I landed.

My feet hit a hard floor.

It was dark.

Completely dark. Even with my eyes open, I couldn't see a thing. There was no sound. No wind. The smell of the forest had vanished too. Instead, I smelled old stone and dust.

'A dungeon?'

I opened my shaman's senses and read the area. There were no living creatures. No monsters. I couldn't sense any traps. It was simply an empty space.

But there was one thing.

Straight ahead, about ten paces away, something stood. It was made of stone. Rectangular. About waist-high.

A gravestone.

I slowly approached it. One step. Two steps. My shaman's senses read the gravestone. There was no danger. But there was something inside it. Something very old.

I stood in front of the gravestone and reached out. The surface of the stone was cold. Letters had been carved into it. I traced them with my fingertips. They were ancient Ersian characters. Similar to what I'd learned from the dragon, but in an even older form.

I could read them.

'Here lies Bellian Castor, Great Mage of Ersia, the one who erected the pillars of the world.'

It was a tombstone.

I started to pull my hand away. But at that moment, the gravestone reacted. The letters glowed faintly blue. And my shaman's senses caught it.

A soul.

There was a soul inside the gravestone. It was asleep. For hundreds of years, perhaps longer. But it wasn't dead. It was sleeping. When my shaman's senses touched it, the soul stirred.

'...What is this?'

It was like Kallen. The soul of the dead. But it was far stronger than Kallen. There was no comparison. If Kallen was a candle, this was a bonfire.

The soul was waking up.

It had sensed my presence. The energy of a shaman. The energy of the god's vessel. For the first time in hundreds of years, someone who could sense it had appeared.

'Possession is possible.'

I knew it. I could possess this soul. My shaman's senses were telling me so. The soul wasn't hostile. If anything, it was welcoming me. It was delighted that someone had come looking for it. The end of its loneliness.

I placed both hands on the gravestone and closed my eyes.

Possession.

My head exploded.

Memories poured in. Like waves. No, like a waterfall. All at once. More than I could handle.

I saw a young man. Brown hair. Sharp eyes. A mage's robes. Flames blossomed from his hand. No, they weren't flames. Lightning. No, not that either. Space itself was torn apart.

Bellian Castor. The Great Mage.

The memories continued.

A tower. A massive mage's tower. The tower Bellian had built. The tower that had stood at the heart of Ersia. A pillar that circulated the world's magic. Bellian was the one who had created it.

And then, war.

Darkness swept in from the north. The Demon God's army. Undead. Necromancers. The sky turned black. Bellian fought. Alone. Atop the tower. He cleaved the sky with magic. Shook the earth. Faced tens of thousands of enemies.

But there was a price.

His magic was depleted. His body collapsed. With his final strength, Bellian cast a barrier. A barrier that held back the darkness. And then he fell.

He didn't die. With his final spell, he bound his soul to the gravestone. For someone who would come looking for him someday. For someone who could inherit his knowledge, his memories, and his experience.

He waited for hundreds of years.

No one came.

The Great Rupture occurred. The god's vessels disappeared. The beings who could sense souls vanished. Bellian waited alone in the darkness. One hundred years. Two hundred. Three hundred.

And today.

A shaman had come.

The memories ended.

I was kneeling in front of the gravestone. My breathing was ragged. Sweat ran down my face. But it was different from when I'd possessed Kallen. There were no aftereffects. I hadn't used magic. I'd only received memories.

Bellian's memories were sorting themselves out in my head. The principles of magic. The flow of magical energy. The structure of barriers. The theory of spatial magic. It was an incredible amount of knowledge. But I wasn't a mage. I couldn't use that knowledge directly. I didn't have magic circuits.

I could understand it, though. How the magic of this world worked. How magical energy flowed. How barriers were made. And what the world had been like before the Great Rupture.

'...So gods and humans really did live together before the Great Rupture.'

It was there in Bellian's memories. An age when priests conveyed the gods' voices. An age when priestesses became vessels for the gods and bestowed blessings. Ersia in that era had been completely different from the world today.

Then I heard a voice.

Inside my head.

'...Hey.'

I jumped.

'Hey, you there. Are you listening?'

It wasn't Kallen's voice. Kallen was taciturn. This voice was different. Rough, grumbling, and old.

'...Bellian?'

'Oh, you can hear me! Good, good. We finally connected. Good grief, someone I can actually talk to after hundreds of years. I'm moved. Truly moved.'

I was stunned. Communication with Kallen had only been possible during possession. Normally, he stayed quietly inside my vessel. But Bellian was different. He was talking to me even though the possession had ended.

'How are you talking to me?'

'I'm a Great Mage, a Great Mage. Maintaining consciousness in a spirit state is basic stuff. That taciturn knight friend of yours is quiet because he doesn't have that skill. I'm different. I'm talkative. I've always been talkative. Even when I was alive, people complained that I talked too much.'

'...I see.'

'But what are you, exactly? A shaman? What's that? You took all my memories, but you can't use magic? You don't have magic circuits? How can someone like that touch a soul? No, before that, how did you even get in here? I made this dungeon myself. I designed it so only someone capable of resonating with my soul could enter.'

'I stepped on the magic circle, and it just sucked me in.'

'Just? You say it just sucked you in? Good grief, girl. That's not something that just happens. No one had been able to enter for hundreds of years. You were the only one. Do you know what that means?'

'...Destiny?'

'Destiny, my foot. It means you're special! Oh, honestly. Waiting hundreds of years was worth it after all. But you can't use magic? What a shame. Such a shame.'

Bellian really was talkative. He was the exact opposite of Kallen. Kallen only said what was necessary, while Bellian said everything, including what wasn't.

'You should learn a thing or two from that knight friend of yours. Try talking less.'

I spoke to him silently.

'What? Why should I? I've lived for hundreds of years without being able to say a single word! I finally have someone to talk to, and you want me to hold back? How cruel.'

I sighed. One taciturn knight and one chatty old man in my head. I was already worried about the future.

'Oh, and one more thing.'

Bellian's voice grew slightly more serious.

'There should have been something about the Great Rupture in my memories. You saw it, right?'

'...Yes.'

'The Great Rupture wasn't a natural disaster. Someone caused it. Deliberately.'

My breath stopped.

'...What did you say?'

'I found out right before I died. The Great Rupture wasn't an accident. It was intentional. Someone severed the passage between gods and humans. On purpose. But I don't know who did it, or why. I died before I could find out.'

Anger colored Bellian's voice. Anger that hadn't cooled even after hundreds of years.

'That's why I waited. For someone to come, inherit my memories, and finish what I couldn't. But the person who came is a shaman who can't even use magic.'

'...I'm sorry.'

'No, you have nothing to apologize for. The fact that you got in here is incredible by itself. And your vessel is pretty big. You were raised by a dragon, weren't you? That dragon was Arkesia, right?'

'...You know Arkesia?'

'Of course! We used to drink together when I was alive. Ah, dragons don't drink alcohol. I drank alone while the dragon watched from beside me. He was quiet even back then. But he had a deep affection. Very deep.'

I smiled. There was someone else who knew Arkesia.

'Good. You can't use magic, but my memories are inside you. They'll be useful someday. And now that I'm inside you too, I can at least offer advice when you need it. Magic theory, barrier analysis, interpreting magical energy flows. I can help with things like that.'

'Thank you.'

'What are you thanking me for? I'm the one who's grateful. I finally have someone to talk to after hundreds of years. Honestly. Who knew being able to talk could make someone this happy? I never knew when I was alive.'

Bellian seemed ready to start rambling again, so I hurriedly spoke.

'Grandpa, I have to go. My friend is waiting outside.'

'Grandpa? Hey, I was thirty-eight when I died! Isn't Grandpa a bit much?'

'If it's been hundreds of years, you're definitely a grandpa.'

'...Well, that's technically true. Good grief.'

'Do you know how to get out?'

'Of course I do. I made this dungeon. There's a return magic circle behind the gravestone. Step on it, and you'll go back to where you came in.'

I walked behind the gravestone. There was another magic circle on the floor. It was glowing faintly.

'Oh, and miss.'

Bellian spoke.

'What's your name?'

'Yoon-seul.'

'Yoon-seul. That's a nice name. I'm Bellian. Bellian Castor. It's nice to meet you, Yoon-seul.'

'Nice to meet you too, Grandpa Bellian.'

'...I told you to drop the Grandpa.'

I stepped on the magic circle with a laugh.

Light surrounded me.

I was back in the forest.

Sunlight. Trees. Moss-covered rocks. The ground littered with herbs. It was the exact spot where I'd entered. The magic circle had already gone dark. It was being buried beneath the moss again.

"Sis!!!"

A voice that was almost a scream rang out.

It was Lina. Her eyes were swollen nearly shut. Her nose was red. Tear tracks ran down her cheeks. Her nose was running. She was clutching a dagger in her hand, trembling.

"Sis, sis, sis!!!"

Lina came running and threw her arms around me, nearly crashing into me. I staggered.

"Where did you go! You suddenly disappeared in a flash of light! For two whole hours! Where were you for two hours! I was all alone here, in the forest, all by myself—"

Lina couldn't finish. She burst into tears. Real, sobbing tears. Her shoulders shook. My clothes grew wet.

I patted her back.

"I'm sorry. It's okay. I'm here now."

"Where did you go?"

"I visited somewhere special."

"Where's special?"

"I'll explain later. Right now—"

"Right now, what?"

Lina grabbed my clothes and wouldn't let go. Her face was a mess of tears and snot. I couldn't tell if she was angry or relieved. Probably both.

I smoothed her hair.

"I'm sorry, Lina. I'm really sorry."

"...Don't disappear again."

"I won't."

"Promise?"

"I promise."

Lina cried for a long while. I held her quietly. The forest was silent. Only birdsong could be heard.

Bellian spoke in my head.

'Good friend.'

'...Yes.'

'Take good care of her. That's something a person who's spent hundreds of years alone would say. Having someone by your side is a miracle.'

I hugged Lina tighter.

After a long while, Lina finally calmed down. She pulled away from me with a sniffle. Her face was a disaster.

"How do I look right now?"

"...Can I be honest?"

"No."

"Beautiful."

"Liar."

Lina laughed while she cried. I laughed too.

"Did you gather all the herbs?"

"I gathered them while crying after you disappeared. I finished the quota."

"...You gathered them while crying?"

"I still had to work while I cried! Three silver coins were on the line!"

I burst out laughing. Lina had kept gathering herbs while sobbing. I liked this girl. I really did.

We left the forest. The sun was sinking. On the way back to Bellat, Lina held tightly to my arm as we walked, afraid I'd disappear again if she let go.

Bellian spoke to me again.

'So gathering herbs was the mission? You're an adventurer? What rank are you?'

'Bronze.'

'Bronze? The lowest rank? Good grief. Someone carrying my memories is the lowest rank? This is embarrassing.'

'Even with your memories, I can't use magic.'

'That's true, but still. It's frustrating. If I were alive, I'd teach you myself.'

'You said you'd advise me instead.'

'Yes, yes. I'll advise you. Oh, but that knight friend. Kallen, was it? Why is he so quiet? He didn't even say hello to me.'

I laughed silently.

'Kallen is always like that.'

'What's that supposed to mean? We live in the same vessel. We're neighbors, aren't we? Saying hello is the bare minimum between neighbors.'

Kallen's energy shifted faintly, as if he found this annoying.

'...See? He does react. Hey, knight friend! I'm Bellian! Nice to meet you!'

Kallen's energy went quiet again.

'...Tch. What a stiff.'

I couldn't hold it in and laughed out loud. Lina tilted her head.

"Why are you laughing?"

"No reason."

"You don't laugh for no reason. What is it?"

"I'll tell you later."

"You have way too many secrets, Sis!"

Lina puffed out her cheeks. I laughed.

The walls of Bellat began to come into view.

Shaman Kang Yoon-seul. Twenty-one years old. Bronze-rank adventurer.

One taciturn knight in my head. One talkative Great Mage.

My family was growing.