"Master! How did it go? Was the experiment successful?"
"Yes, we have succeeded! Our magic has been successful!"
But Alpeas couldn't be happy. No matter how he looked at it, Erina's condition was strange.
"But why is my wife like this? Darling! Pull yourself together!"
Arcane looked at the research panel again and was surprised. The balance of each element was normal, but the overall body rhythm was decreasing simultaneously. It was as if life itself was fading away.
"Why... why is this happening? It didn't happen in the clinical trials."
"Darling! Erina! Open your eyes!"
Erina half-opened her eyes and weakly smiled.
"Darling... I'm fine."
"Erina! What happened to you? Why are you like this? What's wrong?"
"There was a rejection reaction from the nerve terminals. The human brain must have some differences. But you've done something amazing. With a bit more research... Huuk!"
Erina took a deep breath and convulsed.
"Darling! Don't speak! I'll do something! I'll save you no matter what...!"
Alpeas cursed his intellectual ability, realizing it was already too late to turn back. But he had no choice but to say it.
Erina slowly shook her head. She knew what her husband knew.
"Darling... hold my hand."
Alpeas firmly grasped his wife's hand. If there had even been a one percent chance, he would have tried. But now, all he could do was stay by her side.
"Erina, this can't be happening. How could...?"
Erina sadly smiled.
"Darling, I'm sorry."
"Why are you sorry? For..."
"For being foolish."
Alpeas's heart shattered. Trying to change his wife, why had he forgotten her words that she was beautiful just for existing?
"No... why are you sorry? Why are you sorry? It's me! I was the fool! I'm the fool!"
"I'm grateful to have met you."
Erina finally understood her husband. She lived in a wonderful world where rationality ruled. He had been living there. She was happy to have shared even a brief moment together, to have taken his memories and departed.
"Love! Open your eyes! Please... I made a mistake, love!"
When Erina's eyes closed, Alpeas hugged her and cried.
"Aah! Love! Love!"
Arcane lowered his head with sorrow. What difference was there between the human brain and that of an animal? If he had experimented on humans from the beginning, this tragedy might have been avoided.
But it was a useless supposition. The condition Erina set for being part of the experiment was clear: no experimenting on anyone else under any circumstances.
That's why he tried harder. The data collected so far would be valuable for humanity.
"I'm sorry. I won't let your sacrifice be in vain."
There was a dull sound. When he turned his head, Alpeas was banging his head against the wall.
"Uwaaaah!"
There was a sound of breaking each time his head hit. It was impossible to tell if the wall or his head was breaking.
"What? The glow of the Milch family??"
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Alpeas's body, repeatedly hitting his head, bounced like a rubber ball. But he didn't stop. The horrifying idea of having left his wife and being the only survivor flipped his mind.
"Arrogant Alpeas!"
Alpeas threw himself at the wall again.
Thud!
Klump held onto Alpeas. Otherwise, he would have died without moving.
"Alpeas! Control yourself! What are you doing?"
"Let go of me! Damn it! Aaaah!"
Even with all his strength, Klump could barely contain Alpeas. He seemed to be fighting towards death, as if his soul were burning. But in the end, the shock was too much, his pupils dilated, and he lost consciousness.
"Erina... Erina..."
Even while unconscious, Alpeas called out his wife's name.
Klump also he tears seeing how his friend called out for his wife.
***
Erina's funeral took place. It was a family-only gathering, and Alpeas was prevented from attending by his relatives. There was no wedding ceremony or post-funeral gathering. In the end, the two had to part ways as strangers.
Alpeas sat in front of the funeral site, lost in thought. At sunset, he suddenly stood up as if he were beside himself and walked off to somewhere.
He arrived at Arcane's dungeon. The artifacts from his countless experiments of the past two years were still intact.
"Erina..."
Alpeas sprayed the place with a barrel of oil. Each time the oil splashed, tears streamed from his eyes. The moments when they laughed and talked together felt like they happened just yesterday.
When the barrel emptied, Alpeas leaned against the wall and sat on the floor. It was knowledge that should not exist in the world. How could a human carry out such cruel experiments?
"Have you come, Alpeas?"
Arcane entered the laboratory. He knew Alpeas hadn't even been invited to the funeral. To him, this place was his wife's tomb.
"What happened to Erina is regrettable. Take care of yourself and rest for a while, then come back..."
Arcane realized something and turned his head. The smell of oil was too strong to come from a machine.
"Alpeas... what are you...?"
Alpeas stood up with a dark look in his eyes. A fire spell could have completely destroyed the laboratory.
"No! What are you doing?"
"Master, this should have never begun from the start."
"I understand that you've weakened by your wife's death. But it's not like that! The experiment was almost successful! Have you forgotten preserving Erina? Erasing this would be ignoring even Erina's sacrifice."
"None of that is needed. Without my wife... I have absolutely nothing left."
"Even so, you can't do this! This isn't just yours and Erina's. My entire lifelong knowledge is also here! These are documents that cannot be destroyed without my consent."
Alpeas cast a flame spell. Arcane tried to absorb it with dark magic, but he couldn't control the temperature increasing beyond the ignition point.
The flames engulfed the room.
Countless documents, precise magical devices, and difficult-to-handle alchemical materials vanished.
Alpeas, watching the flames unconcerned, walked out of the dungeon.
But Arcane couldn't move from his place. He had to extinguish the fire. No, even if he lost everything, he had to protect the experimental data.
"No, no..."
Relentlessly, Arcane moved back and forth in the fire, trying to save the documents. Finally, the fire spread to a box containing volatile materials, causing an explosion.
The laboratory was completely destroyed, and the impact was enough to shake the entire underground dungeon.
The fire consumed the air terrifyingly, racing through the corridors.
"Alpeas! I won't forgive you, Alpeas!"
Arcane shouted in despair. Losing his data just before completing a masterpiece was more unfair and infuriating than death itself.
"I will definitely... definitely survive. And then, I will seek revenge. Wait for me, Alpeas!"
Arcane shouted at Alpeas as he was consumed by flames. Alpeas, arrogant to the end, always remained arrogant.
Surviving with a desire for revenge, he amassed strength while exploring the continent, using all his connections. However, no one knew Alpeas' whereabouts.
Alpeas reappeared in the world seven years later.
At the main mansion of the Ogent family in the city of Creas.
"Alpeas! Hey, you! What exactly happened to you?"
Klump looked perplexed at Alpeas, who had completely transformed. Where there was once a clean face, there was now a disheveled beard. Clad in rags, his skin was burnt.
Klump led Alpeas to the bath and personally bathed him. There were numerous scars all over his body. Like a swordsman, he could distinguish them: beast wounds, torture marks, clear signs of self-injury.
"Were you searching for a place to die?"
Alpeas didn't respond, keeping his face hidden beneath his wet hair. Then, after a while, he finally spoke.
"I didn't intend to die at any point. Nor did I have any intention to live. I was just aimlessly wandering."
"I see..."
"I heard you became an official knight. Congratulations."
"What congratulations are there between us? Among our peers, I was the slowest, my friend."
Klump replied with regret. He wasn't proud of his accomplishments while his friend experienced hell elsewhere.
"I'm sorry. I had nowhere else to go. So here I am indebted to you."
Klump looked at Alpeas' hunched and worn-out back with sadness.
How had it come to this?
Once known as a rising superstar in the wizard society, he had now fallen from grace within his family and was unknown to any noble.
After the bath, Klump had the servants prepare dinner. However, Alpeas barely touched the food, seeming unable to eat.
Klump knew he hadn't come just because he had nowhere else to go.
Leading Alpeas to his study, Klump poured him a drink. Alpeas didn't even look at the beverage. Just for a moment, his eyes glinted with the same sharpness as seven years ago.
"Speak to me. Your wandering has ended now that you've returned to the world. You should rehabilitate. If I can help you, I will."
Alpeas spoke straightforwardly.
"Lend me 100 million gold."
"100 million... gold?"
It was a huge sum.
Sure, Klump had gained the right to succeed the family by passing the official exam. However, even if he became the head, there was a limit to the amount he could invest.
"I'm not asking you to lend me everything at once. I'll withdraw it over four years. Hire a financial advisor. If we set the monthly limit at 7 million, it can be managed without any impact. I'll pay the interest. But no compound interest. Instead, let's set the annual interest rate at 20%. The repayment of the principal can begin after a year."
The repayment method would be decided by the lender, but Klump wasn't worried. If he knew Alpeas as he did, he would have planned the transaction conditions in advance before coming here.
Ultimately, four years later, he would earn 80 million gold, excluding the principal. He was more interested in how he would do that than the sum itself.
"What do you have in mind? Have you developed some new magic?"
Alpeas shook his head.
"I'm no longer passionate about it."
"Then what are you going to do with 100 million gold?"
"I will build an academy."
"What? An academy?"
Klump's eyes widened. Alpeas, who considered himself the best under the sky, would teach others.
"What in the world are you thinking..."
Seeing tears streaming down Alpeas' cheeks, Klump was left speechless.
"Never again... someone like me shouldn't appear. I will teach the students while atoning for my sins until the time of my death. So that talent isn't trampled by a momentary mistake, I'll live gnawing at my own pain."
Alpeas covered his face with both hands and sobbed. However, he couldn't stop the tears from flowing.
Klump's eyes also turned red.
Damn Erina. Perhaps Alpeas wouldn't be able to forget her. Maybe he would have to endure for the rest of his life.
But that's why the decision was easy.
If the pain Alpeas had to endure could be transformed into someone's growth, if it really could, perhaps his friend, who once dreamed more of happiness than success, would have a day to smile in the distant future.
"I will lend it to you. 100 million gold."
Alpeas founded an academy in his name in the city of Creas. He worked as a wizard during the construction period, paying the interests, and studied at night to obtain a teaching certificate.
And 4 years later.
Alpeas Milch, Director of the Aldeas Magic Academy, paid 180 million gold to the Ogent Family.
***
When the effect of Abyss Nova completely disappeared, Alpeas slowly opened his eyes. All his memories returned, but he remained silent for a long time. The 40 years of rewound and repeated time were so long and heavy.