Chapter 84: Returnees (2) (1/2)

Lena.

Her full name is Lena Ainsburg.

She was the favorite disciple of Bardo Ainsburg, a royal wizard of the Paragon Kingdom.

For Bardo who had been single all his life, she was no different from a real daughter, and the orphan Lena also treated Bardo like her real father.

Though her beginnings in magic were relatively late, she had an earnest desire to repay Bardo’s guidance in cultivating her innate magic talent, and perhaps most importantly, his self-sacrifice for her.

She officially earned the wizard position at the very young age of 15 and then entered the Grey Tower, where Bardo also studied at, and accomplished the feat of completing the whole scholastic course in just 3 years.

‘Master.’

Eighteen.

The still young girl went home to meet her beloved teacher and father, Bardo, with a smile on her face.

It was unimaginable for her that the end of her journey would be marked by tragedy.

When Jude recalled the story of Lena that was depicted in the first episode of Legend of Heroes, Cordelia gasped and stared at Lena.

‘It’s really Lena.’

She was Lena whom she liked after Cordelia.

Or rather, if Lena had actually been a playable character in Legend of Heroes 2, Yellow Storm would have been greatly troubled in choosing between Cordelia and Lena.

So when Cordelia faced the real Lena in person, her head went blank in that instant.

‘I like her so much.’

She just liked her so much.

She was so happy because she liked her so much.

Cordelia was smiling so affectionately to the extent that Jude, who looked at her, felt like his heart ached.

But Lena didn’t see what Cordelia and Jude were feeling underneath.

“This place is dangerous. There is no guarantee that I can help you several times. So please leave this city as soon as possible.”

With her hood down, she blurted those words and turned around, becoming light and disappearing before Jude and Cordelia could say anything.

“Lena!”

Cordelia urgently cried, but she was already gone.

White light particles scattered as if the fact that Lena had just stood there was just an illusion itself.

“Shadow magic.”

Or to be exact, Shadow Clone Arts.

It was a magic that created a doppelganger and was one of Lena’s ultimate skills that can be learned in the last half of the first episode of Legend of Heroes.

‘She was originally able to make it only within her field of view.’

Now, they couldn’t even guess how far the main body was from the doppelganger.

It seemed that Landius and Kamael were not the only ones who became monsters in 10 years.

“Uh…Lena.”

As Cordelia was about to cry, Jude turned his head back to her and said.

“It’s still a sign. Because it means that Lena is alive and that she is certainly somewhere in Endymion.”

It was not too late yet.

There was still a chance to save Lena.

At Jude’s explanation, Cordelia quickly looked at him.

“Can you find where she is?”

“I can find her. So can you get off me first?”

It wasn’t because she was that heavy or that he hated it, but he’d be able to move more freely once he got up.

Cordelia quickly nodded, got off Jude’s chest, and then sat down.

“Ah, right! Sir Kaplan! Are you all right?”

“Mmf, mmf! Mmmf!

Kaplan still had and cast on him.

Feeling sorry for Kaplan wriggling on the floor, Cordelia hurried to him.

“I’m sorry, I’ll release you in a minute.”

“Mmf-mmf.”

While Cordelia released the magic spells on Kaplan…

Jude stood up and focused his attention beyond the illusionary wall.

Fortunately, he could not feel the presence of monsters. Lena’s magic seemed to have tricked them into going somewhere else.

‘Is this illusionary wall originally part of Endymion itself?’

Something that originally existed in Endymion, and not made by Lena herself.

‘Did Lena activate it…or was it activated when the monsters awakened the functions of Endymion?’

There were magical lights in the hallways where the monsters passed.

Whether it was Lena, the monsters, or the Devil’s Eyes who wanted to summon monsters, someone seemed to have restored Endymion’s city facilities.

‘Lena must be somewhere in Endymion.’

Lena used expressions such as ‘this place is dangerous’ and ‘leave this city.’

If Lena was outside the city, she would have used expressions such as ‘the city,’ ‘that place,’ or ‘there.’

‘It sounds like a simple pun, but her words are understandable.’

T/N: ‘The city,’ ‘that place,’ and ‘there’ all sound similar in Korean, though I personally feel that it’s more of a tongue twister than a pun.

Lena was somewhere in Endymion.

Then, where was she?

What was she doing in Endymion, and what is going on in Endymion?

‘Angel’s Feather.’

There was a white feather in the place where Lena disappeared.

It was not ordinary bird feather but was evidently that of the angel Lena’s feather.

‘Is that the core of her doppelganger?’

It was when Jude was looking at the white feather that was slightly emitting light.

“Jude, Jude.”

Having even cast a recovery magic on Kaplan, Cordelia approached him in quick steps.

As soon as Jude turned around, she hastily spoke.

“Lena came to help us because we were in danger, right? So if we’re in danger again, won’t Lena appear?”

It was quite a plausible suggestion.

It was possible if Lena’s character was as good as the saint in stories.

But Jude shook his head right away.

“It’s too dangerous.”

There was no guarantee that Lena could respond to every danger.

Lena didn’t even appear when they fought the named Nazarus back then.

“But…”

“Let’s find another way.”

If this was a game, he would have accepted Cordelia’s suggestion.

But this was reality.

Even if he knew that it was the only way, he couldn’t gamble with his only life.

“Cordelia, that’s Lena’s feather. Would it be possible to use that to trace her?”

Cordelia frowned at Jude’s expectant question, and soon shook her head.

“That’s unreasonable. I can’t think of any magic that I can use for that now.”

“Is that so?”

“That…if it’s tracing back, there’s a way.”

At those last words, Jude and Cordelia simultaneously turned their heads.

The barely recovered Kaplan wiped his sweaty head and stuttered.

“I’m not sure…but have you ever heard of the name ‘Bellagio’?”

Bellagio.

Jude and Cordelia blinked once and then looked at each other.

Nobody said anything first.

“Ah.”

“Aaah.”

“Aah!”

“Ah.”

“Ah.”

“Jude? Miss Cordelia?”

When Kaplan felt left out between the two who could communicate with just their eyes, Jude opened his mouth again.

“Bellagio. That’s right, Bellagio. There was that.”

“Will we find Lena if we had Bellagio?”

“I guess.”

There was even a feather here.

As Jude nodded, Cordelia jumped up from her position and ran straight to Kaplan, hugging his head.

“You’re the best, Kaplan! I’m glad Kaplan’s here!”