ARML 148(S:S:3 -1)

Side Story 3-1

It had already been two years since I had been serving as the saint of the temple.

In that time, I’d been insanely busy with my honeymoon, temple duties, and everything else.

Past me, who thought I’d just relax and enjoy my honeymoon—can you hear me now?

“You’ll never get that dream…!”

Damn it!

And this is even while wielding some influence in the capital.

But I wasn’t even in the capital at the moment.

Right before my eyes was a massive archaeological excavation site.

“Wow, this is no joke.”

Even in this chaos, I genuinely admired it.

This place was on the plains outside the capital.

Everywhere, officials from the Magic Knights and my temple attendants were shouting.

“Hey! Be careful there!”

“Found another one! Bring the excavation team over here!”

…To explain what was happening now, we’d have to go back to the start of a large-scale construction project.

“I understood they were building a new large hospital here.”

The hospitals in the capital were over capacity, after all.

But then a problem arose.

Once construction started, old relics began to surface.

Ancient artifacts, no less!

“Is this Gyeongju in South Korea?”

If they were just ordinary dark magic artifacts, my macro purification would handle them in a single shot.

But…

“If they weren’t made for killing, they might escape my filtering.”

Even if not intended for harm, they could still be dangerous, so even as an authority on purification, I had to inspect them.

And today, the artifacts to be inspected started arriving—carried by the person in charge.

“…Layla.”

“Welcome, Team Leader Finley!”

Can you believe it?

My former colleague, who had once been socially awkward, was now a team leader.

He was part of a newly-formed team and had achieved remarkable results—clearly capable.

“Time really does fly sometimes.”

It was surreal to see that the same socially awkward purple-cat-like person from the past was standing before me…

[No matter how much time passes, I think I’d always want to be by your side.]

I hadn’t accepted that feeling, but we were still former colleagues and good partners.

Seamus set the artifacts down on the table in front of me.

“…These are the ones confirmed today. Nothing dangerous, but there are traces of ‘contamination.’”

“Good. Let’s take a look.”

Because the artifacts had been buried in the ground for so long, they had absorbed corrupt energy from nature.

“That means they won’t work as originally intended.”

Or they could even cause accidents.

When I touched them, a faint glow appeared once or twice, then faded.

That meant my purification was working properly.

But I frowned at one in particular.

It was a tiny square ornament, smaller than a baby’s fist.

“Huh? What’s this?”

“…That one,” Seamus frowned, looking a little wounded in pride.

“It’s an artifact whose purpose hasn’t been fully identified yet.”

“Really? I don’t feel anything suspicious…”

It was shaped like a small ring case and heavier than it looked.

One side had a star engraved on it, and a faint silver light seeped out.

“What on earth is this artifact for?”

At that moment, a familiar, cheerful voice reached my ears.

“Layla, what are you doing right now?”

“Ah! Edgar.”

I greeted the approaching attendant warmly.

It was Edgar, my former superior!

I showed him the artifact resting on my palm.

“I’m purifying this artifact, but I have no idea what it’s for.”

“Hmm.”

Edgar picked up the box from my hand.

His face still smiled, but his green eyes narrowed with a hint of sarcasm.

“…Haha. So this one’s still around, huh.”

“Do you know what it is?”

Oh, as expected… the mysterious one.

Smiling meaningfully, as if he knew all the secrets…

Edgar only smiled, as if he had read my thoughts.

“I’m no longer the mysterious manipulator, Layla.”

“But you still know what it is.”

“Exactly… this is an artifact that grants wishes.”

“Gah?”

I gasped, and Seamus’s eyes widened.

“Really? Did something like that exist back then too?”

“People always want the same things.”

Edgar answered casually.

I was uneasy, staring at the faint glow coming from the lid.

“Isn’t it dangerous that it emits light? Couldn’t some weird monster come out?”

“This just means it operates by gathering starlight. It has absorbed the aura of nature over a long time.”

“Ohhh…!”

“Judging by how much light it’s gathered, it should activate soon.”

Edgar gave a slight wink.

“But no monsters will appear, Layla. Don’t worry.”

“Even so, if it grants wishes, couldn’t it be dangerous? What if it’s misused—”

“Wishes granted by this kind of thing aren’t that powerful.”

Edgar set the artifact back on the table.

“At most, it might show an illusion… Unless it’s made with dark magic, it’s nothing special.”

“….”

I stared at his face, amazed.

“How does he just know these things?”

I knew he was capable, but it was still astonishing that he could identify the type of such an old artifact so accurately.

…Edgar gave me a teasing smile.

“Of course, since you call me the mysterious manipulator?”

“You just said you weren’t!”

“Haha.”

He nodded lightly at both me and Seamus.

“I’ll handle what’s left on site. You go ahead, Layla.”

“Thank you.”

Unlike when I first started working at the temple, Edgar had become a reliable attendant.

Wouldn’t it bruise his pride to go from being my superior to being my subordinate?

Yet he never showed it.

“…Maybe that’s why I find him hard to deal with.”

I realized he subtly drew boundaries.

“It was a long time ago, but…”

I still remembered how he once blocked me sharply just when I worried about his expression.

[You always pretended to be kind, but people called you nosy, didn’t they?]

Well, anyway, it was all fine now.

“Great! I can leave early and have dinner with Carlisle!”

Just then, a slightly sulky Seamus spoke.

“You—did you finish all the tasks I assigned?”

“Uh.”

“You asked me to do them yourself, didn’t you?”

Ah… right. I had completely forgotten.

After leaving Layla at the site, Edgar silently surveyed the excavated ground, disturbed by the artifacts.

He could vividly imagine her astonished thoughts.

“How does she just know these things?”

Though she wasn’t here, Edgar answered gently to himself.

“I can’t help it, Layla. I’ve spent my whole life searching for things like this.”

After losing his family as a child, he had been obsessed with artifacts that could grant wishes.

He had mistakenly believed that understanding them could reverse the tragedies he caused.

“So I can’t help but identify these workings.”

But unless they were made with dark magic, such artifacts had little effect.

They couldn’t resurrect a dead family, nor sway the eyes of a woman married to another man.

“Ugh.”

Suddenly, Edgar clenched his teeth as a sharp pain ran through him.

It wasn’t unexpected, but it was far worse than before.

“I think I’m reaching my limit…”

His soul had finally reached its end.