Episode 68
Troy’s question, of course, implied one thing—was the necklace Hanlim possessed one of Karladen’s Sacred Relics?
“…I think it probably is.”
Miel slowly nodded and took a sip of wine. Her glass was still nearly full.
“Though… the energy flowing from the pendant Hanlim has is very faint—almost too faint to detect.”
Miel added this, and Jade took a small sip of his wine before speaking.
“True. Even I had difficulty sensing it. If Hanlim hadn’t taken it out of his clothes, I wouldn’t have noticed it at all.”
Troy, who was listening closely, turned to Miel again.
“If it’s that faint… isn’t there a chance it might not be a Sacred Relic?”
Miel nodded.
“Yes. It’s possible it isn’t… but I think the chances are quite high that it is.”
What stood out to her most was Hanlim’s claim that the necklace was once a single piece—
One whole pendant split into two.
And the peculiar design, coupled with the faint yet distinct aura of the Great Sage—it was too suspicious to ignore.
“Coco.”
Miel called softly to the creature that had been hiding on her shoulder.
At her call, Koselico, who had been curled up asleep, revealed itself and removed its concealment magic.
“Finally, you’re calling me. I was getting bored waiting.”
The small bird stretched and let out a long yawn. Miel chuckled at the sight.
“Sorry, Coco. You fell asleep, huh?”
“Mhm. Still, I heard most of the important stuff before I dozed off. I started getting sleepy when that guy started drunkenly rambling.”
Koselico shot a glance at Hanlim, now fast asleep on the bed. The creature had been hiding in Miel’s hood, but Hanlim’s actions earlier had made it retreat into full concealment.
“Anyway, Coco—there’s something I want to ask you.”
“It’s about the Sacred Relic from the Eastern Continent, right?”
“Yes. Do you know anything more about it?”
Koselico hopped down from Miel’s shoulder onto the table, shaking its head.
“I don’t know the exact appearance of the relic. I just know the type of power it holds… and that it’s somewhere on the Eastern Continent.”
“Hmm… then it’ll be even harder to be sure.”
Miel sighed, and Koselico gently tapped her hand with a small wing.
“Even so, there are very few objects in this world that contain Karladen’s power.
Some of those are Sacred Relics. And even if what Hanlim has isn’t technically a relic, if it contains Karladen’s power, it’s still special.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. That’s why you should recover it, even if it turns out not to be a relic.”
“…Thanks, Coco.”
“Hmph. Anyway, I’ll go back into hiding now. No telling when that guy might wake up.
It’s not because I’m sleepy or anything.”
Koselico quickly added a defense, but Miel could easily tell the little bird was just drowsy.
“Yeah, yeah. Go ahead and sleep a bit. I’ll call you if I need you.”
“Yaaawn… okay. Call me anytime.”
Koselico yawned again and climbed back onto Miel’s shoulder, disappearing into concealment once more.
“…Still, like the bird said, even if it’s not a relic, if it holds the Great Sage’s energy, we should recover it.”
Jade, who had been quietly sipping his wine, finally spoke.
“We don’t know what kind of effect that power could have on others.”
Jade gestured lightly toward the sleeping Hanlim.
Golden mana flowed from his fingertips and slipped into Hanlim’s clothes.
A moment later, the necklace floated gently out of his garments.
It hovered in the air and then glided over to the table in front of them.
The necklace landed softly on the table.
Miel stared at it for a moment before reaching out her hand.
As expected… there was no reaction.
“I can still feel Father’s energy in it, faintly… but it doesn’t respond, like before.”
Jade and Troy both nodded at her words.
“Back when we retrieved the previous relics… the feeling was completely different.”
“Yes. And when we did, fragments of a painting would appear… and the relic’s usage would come to us instinctively.”
As Miel and Troy discussed, Jade suddenly cut in.
“Still, I’m fairly sure this necklace is a relic.”
He gently ran his fingers along the necklace’s cord.
“No—I’m almost certain.
After hearing Hanlim’s story earlier, I was nearly convinced.
That woman named Yunseo… she’s suffering from mana poisoning.”
Jade took the necklace from Miel’s hand and touched the engraved cloud that had been split in two.
“That wouldn’t happen unless it were a relic.
Even if the Great Sage’s energy we can sense from it is faint, the relics all carry a condensed form of that energy.”
Miel’s eyes widened slightly at Jade’s reasoning.
When she thought about it carefully… it was true. The relics had always contained clear, pure power.
“And even if the energy isn’t strong, if it’s the Great Sage’s pure mana… it could cause mana poisoning.”
Jade continued calmly.
“However, there’s a condition.”
“A condition? What kind?”
Troy asked curiously. Jade turned to him and explained:
“Even on the Eastern Continent, there are rare cases of children being born with unusual constitutions.
Those are the ones who grow up to become the very few magic users in the East.”
Jade explained that magic users from the East were incredibly rare.
Most of them ended up traveling to the Northern Continent to study magic, since the Eastern lands lacked any proper training facilities.
“And those individuals also passed through the Magic Tower.
Anyway, that’s not important right now.”
Jade steered the topic back.
“It’s rare, but in the East, some people are born with natural magical aptitude.
Even in lands where mana concentration is low, they possess dense mana within their bodies.
And if this woman—Jung Yunseo—was born like that…”
Jade glanced briefly at the sleeping Hanlim and then continued in a quiet voice.
“…then her body would respond to the pure mana of the Great Sage.
That’s what caused the mana poisoning. Actually, I’m certain of it.
There’s no other explanation.”
His voice was calm but resolute.
“So this relic really is… a symbol tied to a person.”
Miel murmured softly as she stared at the half-pendant.
Jade nodded and handed the pendant back to her.
“Moreover, the Eastern Continent has no institutions like the Magic Tower or schools of magic.
That means Jung Yunseo never had the chance to learn how to control magic.
So she’s suffering severely.
She probably knows something’s wrong—that the mana running wild inside her body is causing the fever.
But she wouldn’t know what that energy is or how to deal with it.”
At those words, Miel’s expression darkened slightly.
‘…Father didn’t mean to hurt her. But… it’s still his influence.’
Jade noticed the shift in Miel’s face.
“Miel. Don’t make that face. This isn’t anyone’s fault.
It’s just unfortunate circumstances.”
He gently patted her shoulder.
Troy added with a nod,
“He’s right, Miss Miel.
No one could have known that necklace would negatively affect someone like Jung Yunseo.”
But then—
“…What do you mean by that?”
A quiet voice interrupted them.
Hanlim was now standing upright in front of the bed, fully awake.
The drunken haze was completely gone from his face, replaced by a look of pure shock.
“Are… are you saying… that the necklace I gave the young lady… is the reason she’s sick…?”
His pupils trembled violently.
Miel muttered softly and quickly stood up.
“Hanlim…”
She tried to approach him, but Jade rose from his seat first.
“…Yes. If we look at the facts—that’s what it seems.”
Jade walked over to Hanlim and gently pushed him back down onto the bed.
“But Hanlim, this is not your fault.”
