“Shulia!”
“I can’t meet Karan and Connin…”
“It was inevitable.”
Kaluo felt worried about the two of them.
But Richard said it was all for the greater good, Karan and Connin also became black mage according to plans.
“They’re not kicking Tom out either.”
Shulia wasn't saying that just because she missed Karan and Connin.
Shulia was getting used to her life.
She had a lot of friends and wasn’t discriminated against before. She was very happy.
But with Tom coming, her happiness came to an end.
“That can't be helped. Once someone comes to the orphanage, we can't let them go. That's the rule. It's not Richard's fault.”
Is that really true?
Shulia couldn’t forget what she saw.
There was a time when Tom severely harassed Kaluo with his group.
It was a usual occurrence, but the level of harassment was very severe that day.
Shulia urgently looked for the teachers.
And she found Richard. But she couldn't talk to Richard.
Richard was watching Kaluo get beaten up. He didn't seem to have any intention of helping him.
Rather, he looked happy.
Feeling instinctively frightened by his expression, Shulia unknowingly stepped back.
Then Richard turned his head and saw Shulia. He strode to Kaluo after a while. Finally, he stopped the fight with a gentle expression as usual.
Shulia told Kaluo about it, but he dismissed it as a mistake.
“Shulia, you don't know because you're still young, but Richard is a really good man. He’s better than anyone else. You can't say that.”
Kaluo was like that whenever anybody told him about Richard.
Knowing how much he likes Richard, Shulia sided with Richard in front of others.
However, the fear that occurred after that day did not disappear.
When Shulia only looked at the candy that fell on the floor without answering, Kaluo jumped up from his seat and stepped on the candy.
“Brother!”
“It's because of her! She's making you think something weird! Don't take anything from her again!”
“Brother, don’t!”
Shulia cried and tried to stop him. Kaluo didn't stop stepping on it until the candy turned into powder.
***
Shulia cried and fell asleep because of exhaustion. He can’t believe that she’s crying like this over a candy. She really is still a child.
So he has to protect her. Just like how Karan and Connin protected him.
When Kaluo Shulia’s black hair, the door suddenly opened.
He turned his head in surprise.
A woman, who covered herself with a black robe, came inside.
She’s Karan, the sister of Kaluo.
“Sister!”
Kaluo shouted with delight.
He was worried that she might also be on the wanted list, so he was relieved to see that she looked healthy.
“Shh!”
However, Karan quickly raised her index finger over her lips before saying anything.
Kaluo hurriedly asked everything about what had been happening.
“Let's go. We have to get out of here.”
Karan whispered quickly.
They need to leave the orphanage, she’s here to take them.
She’s probably sneaking in because she’s being chased by the imperial family.
Kaluo quickly understood the situation and nodded.
“Okay. Shulia, wake up.”
He tried to wake Shulia up. However, Karan was surprised and held Kaluo's hand.
“What are you doing!”
“Why?”
“You're the only one going. You don't have to wake the kid up.”
Why did she say that? Karan addressed Shulia as if she was a stranger. It was very weird.
She found Shulia very cute. When the two went to the orphanage, she repeatedly asked Kaluo to protect Shulia.
“What? What about Shulia?”
“Later.”
“But when?”
“We don't have time. We have to go.”
“When is she going?”
“Listen to your sister!”
Karan started to become impatient with him.
It was his first time seeing her angry like that. Kaluo was surprised and looked up at Karan.
“I'll take her next time. So you're the only one who's going today.”
“Yes.”
She didn't give a definite answer again this time. However, Kaluo nodded in fear that his sister would get angry again.
“Get out first.”
“Alone?”
“I'll pack your stuff and go out in a minute, so you go out first.”
“I’ll do it.”
“I told you to get out!”
“Alright…”
Kaluo was confused about Karan’s behaviour.
‘It’s my luggage though. I could pack it more quickly. Besides, she has never been to my room before…’
He didn't understand her. However, the thought of luggage was quickly forgotten.
More than that, he was worried about her.
‘If I leave, Tom will pick on her more severely.'
He only argued with her but it was obvious what would happen after Kaluo disappeared.
He couldn’t leave her and go alons. Shulia needs to go with him, he needs to persuade his sister again.
Kaluo opened the door and went into the room.
Then Karan looked at Kaluo in surprise.
Karan wasn't packing. She was there next to Shulia.
Inside Karan's robe, black smoke was creeping out like a snake. And the smoke covered her small body.
“Kaluo…”
“Sister, what are you doing right now?”
***
I went to the palace library early in the morning.
Today was a monthly holiday, so I was alone in the entire library.
I piled up books on a wide desk where 15 people could sit, and began to look at the records about tancinol.
“Ancia.”
As I was writing on a piece of paper, I heard Blake's voice and looked up.
“Blake, what are you doing here? Are you here to read a book?”
“No, I’m here to see you.”
Blake said with no expression.
He had a talent for looking pure even when he said something slick.
“But what were you doing? The book is all about tancinol.”
He looked at the books on the desk.
“I've been writing down the timing of the tancinol outbreak.”
“Did you organize all this by yourself since dawn?”
“Yes.”
“You should have called me.”
“It’s nothing hard, don’t worry.”
“Can I see it?”
He pointed to my note, and I nodded cheerfully.
“Sure.”
“I think you missed a few incidents. Did you do that on purpose?”
Blake said, skimming through her notes lightly.
He noticed that just a quick look was missing in my notes.
I taught him history when he was young, but now he seems to know more than I do.
“Yes, it wasn’t tancinol.”
There have been countless people who have been caught in tancinol in the past.
Tancinol is known as a disease caused by the goddess, so even if they thought someone had a disease, it was often misdiagnosed.
Nevertheless, there were many cases recorded in history.
It was called tancinol based on symptoms and progress, Yet, as a result of my careful examination of the records, turns out most of them were completely different diseases.
Back then when I was Laontel, I kept researching about Tancinol.
The experience at that time helped me analyze the data.
“Did you assume this by just looking at the records?
“It’s not perfect.”
No matter how much knowledge I have of tancinol, there was a limit to judging by past records.
“So I marked it like this.”
I pointed to the symbol written down in the notebook.
The possibility of tancinol is clearly marked with an asterisk, a circle for about 80 percent, and a triangle for 50 percent. Blake's expression became serious after hearing my explanation.
“Ancia, are you sure you're 100 percent sure you know about tancinol?”
“Yes, why?”
“Back then, there was a case at the church.”
“What?”
“There was a coup in the church in 685. It was to overthrow Kensway's family, when the brutality reached its peak, there was suddenly a tancinol outbreak.”
After handing over the note, he pointed to the other part where I marked the circle.
“In 711, when Emperor William set out to reform the church. This was also a failure because of tancinol. And in 762…”
“Opal war!”
“Right. The Opal War broke out in 762.
The Opal War wasn't a real war.
At that time, the Emperor of the Asteric Empire fell in love with Opala, a Roum and tried to make her as Empress, which Kensway's priests strongly opposed.
The emperor tried to reach a compromise by welcoming her as the Empress, but the church refused to allow it.
The Emperor was furious and tried to bring the church down.
Eventually, a war broke out.
During the war, the church remained inferior, but the situation reversed as Opala was caught in tancinol.
Eventually, Opala dies of tancinol, and the emperor is deposed of.
We looked at the other records in a hurry as we found the same thing in common.
When the Kensway family was in crisis, tancinol broke out.
They intentionally caused the outbreak.
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