Chapter 309: Choice
Translator: Kris_Liu Editor: Vermillion
The night of the Month of Passion, the sixth of the year, was still relatively cool. The gentle breeze was refreshing.
However, in the hall of John’s house, the atmosphere was freezing cold because of the deep grief.
Sitting on the couch, the family members were all very silent. None of them talked, as they were lost in their memories.
Alisa wiped off her tears with the handkerchief from time to time; Iven’s young face was written with sorrow, and his hands were clenching tight; Although Joel had a bottle of spirit in his right hand, right now his biggest habit other than music could not help him with relieving the pain; John, however, was justing sitting there like a statue with a glass of wine in his hand.
“…I’m getting old, and it’s becoming harder for me.” Joel released a sigh. “When I was in Aderon, when Evans’ father passed away… I was sad, but I recovered a few days later. But now…”
Aderon was a very poor area, where the poor people living there struggled every day to make a living. Therefore, it was common for one from Aderon to see that a sudden disease took away a person’s life overnight. Thus, Aderon was the area with the highest mortality rate in Aalto, and Joel and his relatives were relatively more ready for the loss.
Alisa stared at Joel and said in a sobbing voice, “This is different! Our little Evans… He was… not even twenty-one! He was so talented, so hard-working, and he was the best musician ever! He… He’s got no wife, no children… The Evans family has ended here!”
After a few years living as a noble, the way of her talking became more polite.
“If this didn’t happen, we would be able to attend Evans’ wedding in about six months.” Joel sighed again. From what happened at the concert and the funeral, Joel was quite sure that as long as the grand duke agreed, the two young people in love would get married very soon. And, of course, the grand duke would not oppose the marriage. After all, Lucien was a man!
Silence seized the moment again, and then John stood up and said to them, “Let’s get some rest. Lucien wouldn’t want us to be like this.”
“Alright…” Joel stood up and patted on John’s shoulder.
As the backbone of the family, John’s words counted. Alisa slowly stopped crying and said, “John, try to get some rest as well. You are going back to the fortification soon. It’s tough there. Be careful with the evil sorcerers…”
Although she had heard things about the evil creatures and monsters in the Dark Mountain Range from other noble ladies, Alisa did not worry too much. However, what happened to Lucien Evans made her worry about John a lot. After all, the fortification in the Dark Mountain Range was way more dangerous than Aalto.
John’s hands slightly twitched when hearing the word “sorcerer”. He gently hugged Alisa and said, “Mom, don’t worry. I’ll be careful. I need to work harder to become a grand knight in ten years, so I can better fight against the evil… the bastard sorcerers…”
At this time, the breeze suddenly turned into a wind blow, making the noise sounding like ghosts crying. Moonlight disappeared, and the light of the candles also started flickering, as if they were going to go out at any time.
“Who is it?” John sensed a bit of a magic wave in the wind, and he knew that someone was slowly walking downstairs. Taking a big step forward, John fearlessly protected his family standing behind him and, at the same time, pulled out the extraordinary sword.
He could feel it that the person was not intended to do any harm. However, John was also concerned that if he took the initiative to attack, his parents and brother would be left unprotected. Therefore, he chose to stay where he was.
Compared to his experienced elder brother, Iven, who had just started his knight training a few years ago, looked very nervous and confused. It took him a long time to find his sword.
It was very late and the dead silence reigned in the big living room. The person did not answer. The loud footsteps were stimulating their nerves.
Alisa was very nervous and fearful, while Joel was looking at his two sons worriedly. He and his wife were both over forty and they had enjoyed the noble life for a few years. Even if they were going to die there, they did not have much to regret. But his two sons were still young, and they should still have a future.
“Who is it? Who is there!” John did not give up. Slowly, he calmed down, as he knew that there were many knights and even some radiant knights living in the area. The longer the fight took, the better chance they had to win.
When the dim candlelight appeared in the corner of the stairs, John was totally shocked and the name burst out of his mouth:
“Lucien?!”
Wearing the black suit and bow tie, Lucien Evans, the musician who just passed away, slowly walked downstairs!
“E… Evans?!”
“Lucien…?!”
Joel, Alisa, and Iven also saw the person’s face. Under the candlelight, the familiar, good-looking face looked rather healthy.
“It’s me, uncle Joel, aunt Alisa. Hi… John, Iven…” Lucien tried to smile, but he failed.
Alisa cried out, “Little Evans… You’ve got the permission of God to come back to visit us for the last time?”
Alisa could not understand what was going on right now. She tended to use the divine will to explain everything she could not understand. She was very excited, ready to jump out and hug Lucien.
“Mom, be careful! He’s not Lucien! This is an evil sorcerer turning himself into Lucien to fool us!” John directly stopped Alisa.
Under the great spiritual pressure from Lucien, John was only able to stay on the defensive.
“John, I must say that you’re half right and half wrong. I am Lucien Evans, but I’m also a sorcerer. I never died. I was just using it as my way to get rid of the identity as a musician.” Lucien stopped at the bottom of the stairs, as Joel, Alisa, and Iven, where hearing what John said, all took a few steps back, trying to keep some distance away from him. John’s sword was ready to attack at any time.
Therefore, at this moment, Lucien knew that the distance was good for both sides, despite the fact that he felt quite sad in his mind.
“Lucien… a sorcerer?” John repeated the words and became furious. “You bastard! You damned sorcerers! You killed Lucien, and you’re now ruining his reputation! Even the Inquisition has proved that Lucien was a pure and noble man!”
Joel and the rest of them were influenced by John’s words. Although they were confused for a second, now they were all staring at Lucien in an extremely hostile manner.
John continued, “I’m a knight, and I know sorcerers can change their look! Why are you here? Why are you slandering him?”
“John… Do you still remember our talk about the knight spirit and the creed before we beat the gangsters? Do you still remember what we said after we beat the gangsters? We were hoping to travel across the continent, and we were even discussing whether a Cynocephalus was edible?” What was going on right now was within Lucien’s expectation, so he was prepared.
John looked surprised, but soon he became calm again, “So what? There’re tons of ways for you to get the information from Lucien.”
Although Lucien was always very impressed with a knight’s strong willpower, now John’s willpower brought him quite headache. Lucien tried to avoid involving more details because he had no idea what happened between Lucien and John before, when they were kids. So he said, “John, you can ask me more questions about this. You’ll see.”
The look on John’s face was very serious and disagreeable.
Seeing that John was not going to ask him any questions, Lucien started to talk on his own, “I did not start studying magic right after I knew the witch, therefore, I was able to pass the interrogation from the Inquisition. But later when the pastor, Benjamin, sent me and several knights down into the sewers to find the witch’s lab, I found a set of notes and books left by her, and so I started studying magic…
“Uncle Joel, aunt Alisa… John! Do you still remember why all of a sudden I wanted to learn how to read? Because I wanted to read the magic books and notes!
“John, you want to know why I could find the conspiracy of the Argent Horn? That was because I was practicing magic down in the sewers!”
…
Lucien’s words slowly shook their faith. His strict logical thinking made them speechless.
After a while, John growled in a deep voice, “Lucien! Why do you have to make me believe?! Why do you have to let me know that my best friend is a sorcerer! A sorcerer who fooled the whole city and deceived all the people who admired and loved him?!”
In his mind, the image of his friend had been completely destroyed.
Alisa shook her head. She could not believe the fact that her child was an evil sorcerer. And if Lucien Evans never died, the solemn funeral now looked like a vicious trick.
Joel saw the pain in Lucien’s eyes, and the sick look on Joel’s face was slightly relieved, “Little Evans… I understand that you probably didn’t have other choices to make your life better when you just started studying magic. But why are you still chasing after magic after showing your talent in music? Are you that obsessive with power that you have decided to betray God?”
“Uncle Joel, that’s not true. I pursue magic because I love it. I want to see the truth of the world. I want to know how our lives came into being; how this world was born and in what form does this world exist? I want to know the secret of stars above us… This world with so many things unknown is very charming to me…” answered Lucien sincerely.
Then, Lucien turned to John. “I made people believe I was dead because, sooner or later, people would know that I’m a sorcerer. So it’s better letting the great musician live in people’s mind forever. I’m very sorry… for making them feel this sad. I swear… after becoming a sorcerer, I’ve never purposefully hurt anyone innocent unless to protect myself or save other people. I know you might not able to accept my identity, but I want you to know that I’m not that kind of evil sorcerer, and neither are the most sorcerers in the Congress.”
John softened his tone a bit and asked, “So… Your plan has worked out. Why are you here? You don’t worry that we might tell this to the Church?”
Seeing that they were now less nervous, Lucien took a step forward. But Joel, John, Alisa, and Iven all took a step backward. They were still afraid of Lucien.
Lucien slightly shook his head with a bitter smile, “I’m here… to ask if you all are willing to go to the Kingdom of Holm with me. Although there are many sorcerers, the Church is still influential there, and there are still nobles. We live in peace right now. And I’m confident that the nobles in the Kingdom of Holm will accept you all.”
“Holm? The Congress? … Her Highness…?” Some ideas came to John.
Lucien shook his head again, “This has nothing to do with Natasha. I planned this together with my mentor, Professor. Later I’ll be visiting her to tell her the truth as well and apologize.”
Lucien lied about it.
Then, Lucien asked again, “Do you want to come with me? You’ll still have the same life there.”
What was waiting for Lucien was silence. Long-time silence.
After a while, when Lucien was about to ask again, John shook his head alertly, “Lucien, I’m a knight of the Duchy of Violet and Violet Knights. I have the land to protect. I can’t.”
The rejection was firm. The way John looked at Lucien was strange.
Joel tried to put on a smile and said, “Little Evans, we’re happy that you’re still thinking about us. But Aalto is our home… I just can’t…”
“Me, too, little Evans…” Alisa also rejected. “It’s hard for me to imagine the life living with the sorcerers. I’m a devoted follower of God.”
Iven shook his head as well.
Seeing their attitude, Lucien slightly closed his eyes and released a sigh, “Alright, I see… So, after I leave, please go to the Church and tell them I’m a sorcerer.”
“What? What are you talking about?” They were shocked.
Lucien’s smile was a bit sad, “The Church will sooner or later know that I’m a sorcerer, and that’ll bring you all trouble. So if you take the initiative, the Church would not give you all a hard time.”
If the family reported this to the Church, they would not become the tool for the Church to threaten Lucien.
John, Alisa, Joel, and Iven were so shocked that they could not say anything. Although they were very afraid of Lucien and felt betrayed just now, they had never thought of reporting this to the Church!
Lucien put his left hand on his chest and bowed deeply, “Cruelty can also be a kind of mercy. I have to leave now. Hope we can see each other in the future.”
Joel, John, Alisa, and Iven were silent. This was a cruel truth that was very hard for them to accept.
Lucien felt heartbroken. However, he turned around and walked to the door. Maybe they would never be able to see each other again.
When Lucien was going to step out of the living room, Alisa’a trembling voice stopped him, “Little Evans…”
Lucien was surprised. He looked back. He was waiting for the favorable turn.
Alisa bit her lips and then said, “Be careful in that… what is it called… the Congress. It must be dangerous there.”
“I will, aunt Alisa.” Lucien’s eyes welled up.
After the inner struggle, Joel sighed, “I still believe that you have a kind heart. If one day you want to leave the Congress, this place is still your home.”
The look on John’s face was complicated. The veins of his hands grabbing the sword twitched. Finally, when he saw Lucien was about to leave, the words escaped his lips, “Dare you to do bad things! Don’t let me catch you!”
Pausing a bit, John’s voice lowered down, “Be careful.”
A big smile appeared on Lucien’s face. He again bowed to them, and then walked into the darkness.
