#223: Long-Awaited Desire (2) — The Archmage's Restaurant

The origin of all this lies in the Black Dragon’s orb. It was the Black Dragon’s orb, which Rurin’s mother accidentally found, that began to distort Rurin’s childhood.

To be precise, it was when Rurin’s mother, who found the Black Dragon’s orb, reported it magically to the Elder that everything began.

Now that Rurin has just come of age, this was a time when she was even younger than when I first met her, a hatchling.

If she were human, she would have been about the age of an elementary school student.

At that age, it wasn’t that her mother died by accident, but that she was called a disgrace to the clan and never returned.

Therefore, it is only natural that Rurin has such a strong obsession with this matter.

Anyway, the problem arose when Rurin’s mother went to the sacred ground with the Black Dragon’s orb she had found, and the orb in the jewel box had mysteriously changed into a Red Dragon’s orb.

And it was a sacred relic that was kept in the Red Dragon’s sacred ground.

After that, the Red Dragons immediately accused Rurin’s mother of being the thief who had stolen the sacred relic.

She had personally offered the Red Dragon’s orb, and since she had recently visited the Red Dragon’s sacred ground with the Elder as the mother of Rurin, she was treated as if she were a criminal caught in the act.

The Red Dragons went wild, claiming that Rurin’s mother had stolen their sacred relic to weaken their power, and after informing the Dragon Lord, they declared that they would wage war.

The evidence that she stole the sacred relic was Rurin’s mother herself.

Because the Red Dragon’s relic had come out of the jewel box she handed over.

Furthermore, the report that the Black Dragon orb had been found added to it, and Rurin’s mother found herself in an inescapable situation.

Afterwards, the Red Dragons, claiming all justice was on their side, declared that if no apology was made, the entire Dragon clan would face judgment, and as a result, the Black Dragon’s Elder and High Dragons had to go to the Red Dragon’s sacred ground and bow in shame.

It was like the humiliation of Samjeondo in the Joseon Dynasty.

Given the scale of the event, a detailed investigative team was formed. A joint investigation involving the Gold, Red, and Black Dragons was conducted.

However, no evidence was found that Rurin’s mother originally possessed the Black Dragon’s orb and that it had been switched.

The only testimony came from Rurin, the young hatchling and daughter of the criminal, claiming that the orb her mother originally possessed was black.

No one considered this a reliable testimony.

It is said that no one believed her.

Except for me.

“Mom is not the criminal! What she showed me was definitely black. I didn’t see it wrong…!”

When Rurin first told me about that day, I nodded as if it were very obvious.

“Alright. I believe you.”

And when I said those words, Rurin’s expression is one I will probably never forget for the rest of my life.

Anyway, Rurin’s testimony was buried, and the truth was hidden in the darkness.

In an instant, Rurin’s mother, who had brought disgrace by making the Black Dragons kneel before the Red Dragons, became a criminal and took it upon herself to clear her name.

But she did not return alive.

Instead of clearing her name, she was killed. A death disguised as a suicide.

Rurin’s unfulfilled desire is to prove her mother’s innocence.

Of course, I believed Rurin from the beginning, and I still do.

Rurin wouldn’t lie, so her mother is innocent.

Of course, apart from that, this whole incident is full of suspicious points, and even if Rurin hadn’t seen anything, I would have argued that her mother might not have been the criminal.

The first suspicious point is that if Rurin’s mother had stolen the Red Dragon’s orb, she would not have publicly revealed that she had found the orb. She wasn’t a fool.

The second suspicious point is that at the moment the jewel box was opened, a messenger from the Red Dragons had coincidentally visited the Black Dragon’s sacred ground.

Of all times?

It reeks of something fishy.

The Red Dragons claimed that they were sending a response for the visit of the Elder and Rurin’s mother, but the timing was too perfect.

Of course, as they claimed, it could have been a coincidence.

Such coincidences do happen in life. Sometimes even more unbelievable than in movies.

But there was definitely a sense of something orchestrated.

It seems the Elder of the Black Dragons was suspicious of this, but they couldn’t find any proof to clear her name.

In the end, the problem was that the orb was switched without anyone noticing.

The exact situation surrounding this change was unknown.

After all, she was dead.

It is said that Rurin’s mother kept quiet about it to the Red Dragons who interrogated her, as well as to the High Dragons of her own kin who were present.

She probably kept quiet in order to find something herself. She must have thought that speaking to the Red Dragons would be useless.

It was something she did without knowing she would die.

So, it is impossible to accept that her death was a suicide.

Well, how the switch happened isn’t really important. If there is a real criminal, finding them will solve everything. And for that, I cast the fishing line, and finally, a slight bait has been caught.

And so, this journey begins.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah?”

“What are you thinking about so deeply?”

“I was just organizing my thoughts.”

“What are you organizing? You’re foolish.”

“Why would that make me foolish?”

“There’s nothing to organize! Everything is shattered.”

Rurin pouted with a sad face.

Of course, when I said I was organizing things, I meant organizing my thoughts. But what Rurin was referring to was the tidying up of the surroundings.

She was talking about the smooth stone piles that once made up the inner walls of the lair, now shattered and scattered everywhere.

We had come to Rurin’s old house.

This was the place where we first met, the place where Rurin, who was once indifferent to the world, lived in despair before she followed me out into the world.

We had returned to the lair that Rurin’s mother used.

Of course, as Rurin said, it was now completely destroyed, and there wasn’t a single trace left that could be called a “lair”.

“Rurin. Come over here.”

Rurin, who had been smashing the stone piles of the lair with her fists and staring blankly at me, wiped her palms and came over at my call.

“I’m here.”

Once it was a lair, but now, completely destroyed, it looked as if a royal tomb from the Silla period had been bombed. I sat down, laying out a mat on the scene.

“Let’s eat first. It’s been a while since we’ve looked at the old lair.”

Saying that, I patted the seat next to me, and as I looked at her, Rurin sat down next to me, placing her leg on my thigh, and stared at me.

“By the way, how do you feel now that we’ve come back after so long?”

“…Not great.”

“Really? It’s still not great?”

“I think of Mom. Now, I value our lair more, so this place isn’t much. The lair with you is the best!”

“You were so indifferent when we left here, weren’t you? After days of persuasion, you finally followed me out.”

“Who are you talking about?”

“Yeah?”

“Who is the dragon you’re talking about who barely followed you out? I don’t know.”

“What? It’s you! You, the Black Dragon named Rurin!”

“Not really. You sometimes say strange things.”

Rurin answered confidently. So confidently that anyone who didn’t know the backstory might even believe her.

“Can you really say it’s true, with that thing on your hand?”

“My hand?”

Rurin’s gaze shifted to her hand. At that moment, the pink hue reflected in the sunlight, sparkling.

Rurin gently stroked it, and as if she didn’t want to wear the ring, she began speaking about something else.

“That’s the Rurin from another world. I think that idiot did it because of that.”

So now you’re saying that the version of you from another world did that?

Of course, it’s absurd, but what lies behind it is that she wants to forget about the version of herself that treated me coldly.

“Well, let’s forget about that.”

I subtly changed the topic while taking out my lunch box.

“By the way, did your mother ever say where she found the Black Dragon’s orb?”

“I don’t know. She never told me about it. I remember her saying it was very important though. Oh, she said she found it!”

“She found it?”

“Yes!”

“You don’t know where she found it?”

“I don’t know about that.”

Hmm. Well, I guess that’s understandable.

At that time, Rurin wasn’t mature enough to hear such detailed information.

In truth, there was no big reason for coming to the old lair again. There was nothing to find here.

I came here just to solidify my resolve before embarking on the journey to avenge Rurin.

This is the place where everything began.

This is the place where Rurin’s mother brought the Black Dragon orb, where I met Rurin, and where our bond began.

So, after eating the lunch, I planned to leave. For the real journey ahead.

“Rurin. Come here.”

No matter what happens on that journey, everything is for Rurin’s happiness.

For that resolve, I stopped unpacking the lunch and spread my arms.

“Come here! Good job.”

“But why all of a sudden? It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

Her face was full of questions, but I just embraced Rurin’s back without answering.

Rurin still doesn’t smile when we come here. The first time Rurin smiled brightly was after we left this place.

This place is deeply tied to Rurin’s mother. It’s like a tomb. So, she can’t smile brightly here until the deep ‘resentment’ in her heart is resolved.

What I truly want to do is this.

To make Rurin smile brightly and happily in this place, which feels like her mother’s tomb.

This is the true goal.

Even uncovering old grudges and revealing the truth is all for this reason.

Now that I have made my resolve, it’s time to finish the lunch.

So, I tried to pull Rurin away.

But like a piece of gum stuck to me, once she hugged me, she had no intention of letting go.

“Rurin? How about we let go now? The lunch is getting cold.”

“I don’t want to.”

“Hey.”

“No. I want to. I’ll show Mom that I’m with my dear.”

“……”