Chapter 773
Episode 190: The Legacy of Marliet Hister (3)
A sly grin!
Teven and Jen smiled so broadly it seemed their mouths stretched from ear to ear, though their gazes were heavy with anticipation as they looked at the two newcomers.
Their faces were so full of eager expectation that, despite their ghostly forms, you could almost feel their hearts pounding.
“…Well, then.”
[Woooah! See? I told you! If we hadn’t done that, we really wouldn’t have gotten in!]
[Ha! So the golem and that inner-circle monster weren’t lying after all. Damn it. Take it!]
It seemed the two had made a bet on whether the descendants who came to the legacy site would meet the entry conditions.
On Jin’s side, it was Jen. Jen pulled out a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to Teven, who sighed deeply as he looked at it.
[I’ve told you thousands of times, those things aren’t yours—they belong to me… Why bet with someone else’s property?]
Regardless, Teven snatched the paper from Jen and expressed his victory after 350 years with his whole being.
[Ha ha ha!]
Jen and Teven, the two geniuses presumed to have created the long-range communication device, were clearly out of their minds with excitement.
It was probably because they had “overlaid themselves onto the legacy site’s records” and because 350 years had passed.
For all those years, Jen, Teven, and the golem had been each other’s entire world.
Considering the calm tone of the letter, the sight of these two laughing so gleefully was almost bittersweet.
“Looks like Teven Hister won. Congratulations.”
Instead of showing pity, Jin said this, thinking it better to match the mood.
[Ha ha, thanks! You’re Jin Runkandel, right? For a Runkandel, you’re surprisingly flexible!]
“Thank you. By the way, what is that paper used for? It doesn’t look like money.”
[Ah, this is a magic storage paper. The golem keeps insisting it’s his, but honestly, I have no idea where he thinks my stuff is. Anyway! We want to be congratulated not just by outsiders, but by our own descendants.]
“Congratulations, ancestor Teven.”
[Yeah, yeah. We’ve been waiting for you for a long time.]
[Hmph, you even forgot you were waiting for descendants until recently.]
[Well, there must have been some historical tampering with the Hister family, Jen. Besides, we’re phantoms, so our memories aren’t exactly sharp.]
[Oh, right! Hey guys, what happened to our family? Rootberga! They didn’t get wiped out, did they?]
“They’re safe.”
Valeria spent some time explaining to them how they met Cyar and came to the legacy site.
[…Yeah, I remember more clearly now. That’s a relief! Jen, just as we expected, they didn’t find your family. And our family wasn’t wiped out either. Ha ha ha!]
[But why do you look so fine after coming all this way? We wandered for days looking like beggars.]
[That’s because this time, the successful candidates used a shortcut. They had power that ignored the set difficulty.]
The traps installed in Marliet’s legacy site were originally calibrated for Honka.
They were designed so that only someone who could barely defeat Honka could reach the final point after overcoming all hardships.
[Also, since they weren’t enemies, I only applied half my combat power—class 1 hostility wasn’t triggered. Even if I’d used all my abilities, it wouldn’t have mattered.]
[Hmm, that feels unfair. If it was that easy, it feels like they’re just taking our creation too easily. Don’t you think so, Teven?]
[That’s true! We really went through hell!]
“Is that creation the communication device?”
[Yeah, that’s the one!]
[It’s a long-range communication device! There’s nothing like it outside, right?]
“Yes, there isn’t. The best we have are things like the staff of the Zipple Mage Lord, which can only send signals to a limited extent.”
[No way, we can’t just give that away. Let’s have one more test.]
[Oh, good. What kind of test?]
[We’ll decide while these guys inspect the legacy site. Get ready! If you don’t pass, you won’t get the communication device.]
Jen and Teven dashed off somewhere and disappeared.
[They were once great wizards and engineers, even if they seem like fools now. Don’t worry about the test—it won’t be too hard. Even if they’ve gone a bit crazy, they haven’t forgotten their duty and mission.]
As record magicians and engineers ahead of their time, their duty and mission was to pass their inventions on to those truly worthy.
They resembled the ancestors of Runkandel, who had been resurrected by chaotic power in the Battle of the Evil Gods but never fell to corruption.
Ziiiiiing…
As the golem reached out over the floating Marliet record windows, a pleasant vibration spread throughout the legacy site.
[The master foresaw a moment like this long ago.]
“Foresaw? What do you mean?”
[But fortunately, Valeria Hister, you don’t look too tired or lonely.]
Could Marliet have known Valeria’s future in advance?
Jin watched the golem with curiosity.
The golem’s touch activated the record windows.
[We will now bring you into the master’s records. Please lie down.]
As the two lay down, darkness slowly crept in from all sides.
When it became completely dark, the record windows on the ceiling shimmered beautifully like a blue Milky Way.
[You will feel drowsy. Don’t resist.]
Following those words, moments later, the two were able to immerse themselves in the past story, just like when they drank the royal wine in the Vantaramo forest.
Jin and Valeria became translucent observers within the scene.
April 1, 1391, Honka Island.
‘This must be the record of the day Marliet’s ancestor met Honka.’
‘Looks like the fight just ended.’
Jin and Valeria watched Honka, who was half-frozen and gasping for breath.
At this point, Honka didn’t even have a name yet.
Marliet was a very mysterious woman.
She was huge—almost as big as Honka—and her fiery red hair covered more than half her body, with mischievous, sparkling eyes.
Jin and Valeria were momentarily overwhelmed, mouths agape. Neither had ever seen someone so large.
Even Hedoz wouldn’t look that big standing next to Marliet.
“Why do you live alone on this island and bully anyone who comes near? I’ve already scolded you several times.”
[Hmph, there’s no reason. If you want to kill me, then kill me!]
“If you had ever killed a single human, I would have done it already. You’ve only scared people away by pretending to be a current in the sea, so I’m letting you off. Keep this up and the Empire or Zipple will catch you and hunt you down. So repent through me and find the light again.”
[What if I refuse?]
“Then there’s nothing I can do. It’s a bit of a privacy violation, so I try to avoid it, but I’ll have to examine your records in detail. I need to understand why you’re like this. If I wait any longer to hear it from you directly, you might die.”
[What the—? Why are my memories suddenly appearing in the air?]
“Hmm, just as I thought. You’re one of those who gained an inner core trying to overcome the torment from humans and other creatures.”
[Ugh, stop it!]
“Usually, when someone gains an inner core like that, they become filled with hatred and massacre weaker beings. But you chose perfect seclusion instead. That means you deserve praise. Come here, I’ll give you a hug. Oh, frozen stiff? Then I’ll come to you.”
Honka protested in fright, but when Marliet covered him with her massive body, he couldn’t help but feel a comforting sense of security.
And so, Marliet and the mischievous toad monster became friends. Marliet named him Honka after the island.
For a while, scenes of their fairy-tale-like memories played out.
They sat by a campfire sharing meals, Marliet telling Honka stories of the outside world.
Honka never opened his heart to anyone else, but no one dared threaten the island while she was around.
“Now, many Histers come to the legacy site I’m building, but eventually our family will be defeated by Zipple and decline. The number of Histers visiting here will dwindle.”
[You’re so strong, why can’t you defeat Zipple? I heard Hister magic is the best.]
“They’re far more powerful than us and underhanded, so there’s nothing I can do. Anyway, within a few hundred years… no, maybe within a hundred years, our family will be on the brink of extinction. How many will survive? Ten? Five? Maybe only one.”
[Why talk like that already, as if you’re about to leave?]
“I don’t have much time left. Until then, I have to complete a legacy that will support the successors who come when the family weakens.”
[What do you mean? Are you sick?]
“Not sick, cursed. I got it fighting the Zipple phantom army. It’s called the ‘Blood of Kaian’ curse. Once infected, it slowly consumes you in pain until you die. I’m about halfway through. If I hold on, I have about three years left.”
Faced with this sudden farewell, Honka didn’t know how to react.
Marliet smiled gently at him.
“If I die, you should leave this place and make new friends. The golem I’m building now will be more than capable of guarding the legacy site.”
[No.]
“If you don’t, one day when your time comes, you’ll regret it. Living a life where you only miss me until you die—that’s just too lonely. Do you want me to worry about you even after I’m gone?”
[Stop talking about dying all the time. Find a way to break the curse. If you do, I’ll leave the island with you and help.]
“Finding a cure for a curse I don’t even know where to start looking for, or completing a work for future generations—of course, my remaining time must be spent on the latter. For the family, for myself, and for the world.”
[Even without you, plenty of Historians are already creating legacy sites. Isn’t that enough?]
“Most of them are too rigid, and that will only leave the weary future generations with a sense of duty. My legacy site will be a much more special place of rest.”
At that, Marliet suddenly turned her head toward Jin and Valeria.
It was a deliberate gesture, meant to make the future generations who would observe this record feel as if she were speaking directly to them.
“So, make sure you appreciate the time I have left. I hope it brings even a little comfort to the lonely and difficult lives you’ve endured.”