Chapter 79: Unfinished Story
There was plenty to unpack from the story, but a few clear takeaways stood out:
The town they occupied was undoubtedly the future version of the one depicted in ‘Graveyard of Sins.’
Adsagsona had not discovered Aether, but she had spread it throughout the known world.
As for what the ‘known world’ encompassed…?
Zayn didn’t fully know. For the sake of brevity, he had skipped much of that section of the diary and merely skimmed the rest. Still, many of the places mentioned likely no longer existed in the present day.
Adsagsona herself, the First Spellweaver, had been a master of Aether capable of using something called ‘spells.’ Not even the ‘witches’ before her had been able to do that. They had used ‘sigils’ instead.
Sadly, the diary hadn’t gone into much detail about the distinction between the two.
Perhaps that information had been omitted intentionally.
Next…
The barrier and the specters.
The barrier had been erected at the cost of Adsagsona’s life. It was undoubtedly the barrier destined to fall in nine nights, triggering the monster invasion.
As for the specters…
‘They might still be around.’
After all, they’d been sealed, not killed.
Zayn’s thoughts kept returning to the diary’s main unresolved problem: how to kill the specters.
But… how?
How could they accomplish something even that legendary mage couldn’t?
A mage capable of facing nearly a thousand soldiers single-handedly and coming out on top.
There was a possible answer…
Or, at least, a way to find one.
“The Larzac Tablet.”
The diary never mentioned what became of it after Adsagsona died, nor how the tablet had answered her final question. It mentioned that part of the tablet had crumbled, but never said the entire thing had shattered.
Zayn shut the book.
“That’s it, huh? We need to find it.”
Maks, who’d returned Amaya’s book moments earlier, added,
“That seems to be the case.”
Zayn flung himself back onto the bed.
‘Ah…’
Tomorrow, he would have to locate Adsagsona’s grave and discover what had become of the Larzac Tablet.
But now that he’d sorted through everything, nothing could distract him from the despair tucked away in the corner of his mind. Zayn stared at the ceiling, his mind painting the wooden canvas with horrid memories of the previous day.
He bit his lip.
‘Fuck.’
A part of him was grateful for how chaotic the day had become after its terrible beginning. In a way, that chaos had spared him from having to reflect on any of it.
Zayn didn’t know how Maks was faring, but it was probably similar.
Or worse.
Still, he knew the only thing he could do was move forward.
Unfortunately, that wouldn’t be easy. Tomorrow was bound to go wrong for him.
He’d drawn the Nine of Spades, after all.
***
Zayn awoke to find himself alone once again. Maks had already left.
Staring at the ceiling, he thought:
‘Alright, fate… do your worst.’
Pushing himself out of bed, he washed up and dressed in light clothes before fastening the falx to his hip.
‘Never know when I’ll need it.’
Though he hoped he wouldn’t.
Then… he put socks and shoes on!
Gone were the days of walking around barefoot.
With his snazzy new shoes, Zayn left the room and let the door lock behind him.
Downstairs, he found Amaya, Maks, and Lucas sitting around the table. As he approached, he realized they were discussing ‘Graveyard of Sins’ and had reached the same conclusions he had the night prior.
With their goals established, they decided to split up and search for clues after enlisting a few more members of the guild — pretty much anyone who’d been in the tavern section of the inn and overheard the discussion.
Of the main core from the Goblin King trial, only Jade and Hae-Ryung were missing.
Zayn stepped outside and rested his hand on the pommel of his blade.
‘Nothing… has gone wrong yet.’
Keeping his hand hidden beside the wall, he secretly summoned [Twist of Fate] on the off chance it had somehow cleared his debt.
Obviously, it hadn’t.
The card was still a sleek black.
Dismissing it, Zayn began aimlessly wandering. As much as he genuinely wanted to assist with the search, he had to look for clues about an entirely different mystery: the Disasters.
Just like the day before, he began walking around town and bumping into anyone and everyone, trying his best to brush their hands together.
Thanks to these antics, it wasn’t long before he learned of ‘the arena’s’ existence.
Thankfully, Zayn managed to dodge most of the resulting challenges with a heartfelt apology. To avoid further trouble, he began claiming that vertigo caused dizzy spells, partly guilting the would-be challengers into letting go of their anger.
‘Still, I get I have bad luck, but how have I discovered no one?’
Especially when there were plenty more ‘???’ under the Disasters Identified section of the task. Beyond the known names, there were nine in total!
Sighing, Zayn closed his eyes and let his shoulders droop. Then, someone slammed square into his chest.
“Gah!”
His eyes snapped open. Looking down, he saw a girl sitting on the ground, rubbing her back. She had long, wavy brown hair and pale skin; she looked almost like Cynthia.
Smiling politely, Zayn crouched and extended his hand.
“Are you okay?”
The woman immediately slapped it aside.
“Fuck you, you piece of shit! Watch where you’re going!”
‘At least she’s not a “Disaster…”‘
Zayn stared into her hazel eyes, which looked ready to tear his heart out.
‘Though she might be one in the traditional sense.’
The woman craned her head to look around Zayn. Then she shot to her feet and shouted in his face:
“Fuck! Where did she go?! Tell me! Where?!”
Awkwardly straightening his back, Zayn said:
“I’m sorry… I don’t know who you’re talking about.”
“The small girl! The one with black hair and freckles!”
Zayn’s eyes widened slightly.
‘That description…? Nah, not a chance.’
No way this woman was talking about the girl who’d appeared at his room.