ARML Side story 3-2 🍒

Side story 3-2

Edgar felt his soul reaching its end, yet he remained calm.
He had assumed that two or three years would be the limit, and that estimate was about right.

Layla had turned the entire empire into a sanctuary.
Her healing abilities had grown brilliantly over the past two years.
But no matter how powerful she was, she could not restore a life already diminished.

Edgar didn’t even try.
“No point in struggling now.”

The collection of dark magic and the Black Seal were done.
There was no one left to take revenge on.

“Layla’s already been set up to adapt well to the temple.”

She had made an impressive impact from the day of her inauguration, but more importantly, she had already identified and eliminated all potential threats.
The remaining priests were carefully selected so that she could handle them entirely on her own.
Everything Edgar had to do was already finished.

Thinking this way, he felt it might finally be okay to close his eyes.
If the woman he loved had been his partner, he might have tried a bit harder…

“Pathetic.”

Edgar muttered and turned away.
Since Layla had sent people off first, the remaining tasks were to be handled by him and a few priests.

“It might take a little longer than expected.”

No one noticed, however, that in the artifact storage, a small box was glowing a deep silver…

“Ugh, why isn’t this working?”

Back at the house in the capital, I was practicing new magic in front of Carlisle.
But the result was only harmless smoke flickering into the air…

‘I did exactly what Seamus taught me, so why isn’t it working?’

I knew my stats were entirely focused on divine power, leaving other basic magical skills weak.

‘Still, after ten tries, shouldn’t I succeed at least once?’

Damn this “familiar magic” thing!

Carlisle looked at me pityingly.
Seeing a wife studying after work would naturally cause that reaction.

“Layla, wouldn’t it be easier to just use your elemental butterfly?”

“Ah, Vivi’s on vacation, Carlisle.”

Roxana was the only one I used without pay.
Of course, there were benefits for our elemental butterfly!
And Vivi had been making the most of her vacation.

[Vivi’s going to talk about something intense with the older sisters! Eek!]

During that time, I left her completely alone.
If necessary, I could use Vivi’s amoeba duplication magic, but…
‘Then her intelligence would be halved.’
It wouldn’t be very helpful…

So I was thinking of officially getting another familiar.
‘Even with a paladin or priest following, it’s not like they can cover everything.’

Once you form a contract, you could use that servant until the master’s eyes closed for the last time…
‘No, no, having such a non-human aide would only be an advantage!’

But repeated failures made me rub my cheeks.
“Ah, this is difficult.”

“Layla, just bring a dragon—”

“Darling, then I might get eaten. Denied.”

“….”

I had scolded him, yet Carlisle’s face flushed.
Before I could try again, the temple’s direct signal appeared in the air.

‘Hmm? At this hour?’

Priests rarely contacted us after work hours.
Our temple had a strict no-contact rule post-shift… except for emergencies.

The silver signal flashed rapidly, and Lumiere’s voice came through:

“-Holy Lady, it’s an emergency!”

“What happened? Is someone hurt?”

“-All contact with the priests dispatched to the ruins has been cut off—”

“Eh?”

I stood up in surprise, and then—
thud!

The floor shook as if an earthquake had struck.

“…!”

I almost fell backward, but Carlisle caught me, saving me from an embarrassing spill.

“Layla, are you okay?”

“Yes… but was that really just an earthquake?”

Earthquakes were extremely rare in the empire.
All known cases were caused by magic, never naturally.

Carlisle helped me to my feet.

“Let’s get outside first, Layla.”

We could deal with questions after leaving the building.
Everyone in the townhouses of the capital hurried outside.

Once outside, I gasped.

“That’s—”

In a land that should have been peaceful under my macro purification…
A black semi-circular barrier had risen from the ground.

Screams of the frightened people reached us muffled.

‘Wait… that’s where?’

Wasn’t that the site where the artifact was being excavated?

And among the dispatched priests…
‘Edgar should be there.’

“Cough. What’s happening?”

Edgar brushed the dust off easily and coughed.
Artifact inspections were done, and everyone was preparing to leave.

But suddenly, with a deafening sound, everything went black, and his party vanished.
Only the endless black wall remained.

“Hmm, so we can’t get outside at all?”

Edgar pressed his magic against the black wall.
It felt soft like jelly but was impassable. No magic or physical method worked.

Could someone enter from the outside?
‘Might be impossible.’

There was no way to contact anyone outside.
His party had also been scattered.
A bad feeling settled in.

『Hello, Edgar?』

And, as usual, bad feelings were rarely wrong.
He slowly turned.

There, in midair, sat “Layla” cross-legged, waving as if to greet him.
Wearing the uniform from her Black Seal days, smiling mischievously.

『Why, aren’t you happy to see me?』

A teasing yet endearing smile.

“My, my.”

Edgar shook his head in disbelief.
‘This has happened before.’

Back then, it was because of a dark magic artifact showing “worst memories.”
But this time…

“Is it because of an artifact that grants wishes?”

『Correct!』

“This is maddening.”

Edgar let out a bitter laugh.
It felt unpleasant to have all his lingering regrets displayed so openly.

Meanwhile, the “fake Layla” smiled charmingly.
She reached out and gently cupped his left cheek.

‘Should I push this away?’

He hesitated for a moment but did nothing.
Even knowing she was fake, he couldn’t be rough toward someone who looked like Layla.
Instead, he gave a bitter smile.

“You really think you know my wish? You can’t possibly grant it.”

『Of course I know!』

The “fake Layla” tilted her head.

『You’re supposed to say you like me.』

“Ha…”

『Even once, before you die.』

“…”

『I want to be happy about it.』

Edgar’s smile faded.
His expression became sharp, almost dangerous.
It was a difficult topic to remain indifferent about.

『Edgar, there isn’t much time left, is there?』

The “fake” whispered kindly.

『Sleep peacefully on your final journey.』

And, just as the “fake” said, a “dream” began consuming his mind.