Chapter 25: He’s our Erik, after all

"It was at that moment that he earned the nickname 'Green Eyes', and rumors of his intelligence reached an old apothecary who hired him as an assistant in exchange for some food and a place to sleep. During that time, young Erik learned to make various medicines by watching the old woman and began selling them at the bazaar for some money.

However, some ruffians, under the old woman's orders, beat him up and took all his savings, which he had intended to use to pay a teacher to learn to read and write," Eleonora narrated with a complicated expression that conveyed a mix of sadness, melancholy, anger, and murderous intent.

"I'm going to have a lot of fun with those guinea pigs," Sigrún commented with a sadistic smile on her face, understanding Eleonora's previous orders.

"Yes, I'll leave the old woman to you, but I'll handle that lowlife scum personally."

"Leave me at least a couple, or I won't be able to release this anger."

"Then leave me a bit of the old woman."

"Deal."

Eleonora and Sigrún shook hands, smiling wickedly, almost like demons casually deciding the fate of miserable humans. Then they quickly reverted to their elegant and refined demeanor, and Eleonora continued speaking.

"Well, continuing on, after being beaten... Erik managed to survive thanks to the medical knowledge he had learned from the apothecary. But because he was threatened by the ruffians to never 'try to steal the business' again, Erik didn't return to the old apothecary. Instead, he moved to the other side of town and started working as an assistant to the old blacksmith.

Unlike the apothecary bitch, the old blacksmith paid him a decent salary and provided him with a place to sleep, allowing Erik to have a better life. But just a year later, the old man was summoned by a local noble to work.

Due to the high cost of traveling to the noble's territory, the old blacksmith decided to go alone, so Erik had to find another job. That's when he started working at the docks as a cleaner, as the pay was significantly better.

While working at the docks, Erik learned that the captain of the 'Salt Dragon' was recruiting young workers, so he quickly applied. As it was well-known that several teachers would be traveling on the ship."

"So he never gave up on his desire to learn..." Sigrún and Eleonora looked at the green-eyed boy practicing his exercises in the distance with eyes full of tenderness.

"He's our Erik, after all, fufufufu."

"He's my Erik, I just lend him to you occasionally," Sigrún replied arrogantly, to which Eleonora responded with an amused smile.

"Whatever helps you sleep at night, fufu."

"Hmph, finish your story already. You still haven't told me how he got to the island," Sigrún exclaimed, annoyed, while Eleonora elegantly sipped her tea but quickly continued.

"Well, actually, that was the hardest part to find out because there were no surviving witnesses. I even had to send an experienced arcane, and what he discovered honestly surprised me."

"How so? Is it that complicated?" Sigrún asked with a more serious expression, to which Eleonora smiled playfully.

"Actually, it's the opposite. It was all a coincidence, and you could say it was indirectly caused by you. The ship Erik was working on usually covered the Azur Coast-Quayhold route, but on that occasion, it was hired to go on an expedition to your island.

Apparently, someone had noticed that the area where you created the island had become inaccessible for a couple of centuries. Seeking support for the expedition, they managed to interest a noble enough to finance the entire project. However, since they had convinced the noble that there were incredible treasures in that place, they decided to do everything in secret, passing off the researchers as 'teachers.'

That's why Erik didn't know anything and, having never traveled before, didn't notice the difference in travel time, which was done on purpose. That's why they specifically sought 'young workers.' All non-sailing personnel on the ship were replaced with orphans or people without families who had never been to sea. They were told it was just a trip to Quayhold, and the plan was to kill them all upon return.

But during the journey, they were attacked by a juvenile kraken, and the ship was destroyed, killing most on board. The few survivors perished shortly after in the sea, except for Erik, who, when the attack began, hid in a ration barrel and secretly threw himself into the ocean.

The reason he entered your island is undoubtedly related to Myst itself. According to the arcane I sent, Erik was so full of Myst in his unconscious state that it could have caused a confusion in the formation, allowing him to pass through as if he were a magical animal or something similar."

Eleonora handed Sigrún the tablet with which she had given her orders earlier and continued speaking.

"I usually don't punish for something that didn't happen, but if you want to do something, you can give the order. Additionally, the noble house that financed the expedition intends to repeat it, as they still believe it's a treasure-laden area."

"Thanks, Eli," Sigrún looked gratefully at her sworn sister but returned the tablet and continued, "Though it's true that bastard deserves to die for his plans against my Erik, the fact is that if it weren't for that, I might never have met him. As for their expedition attempts, they won't get far. Not everyone is a child of Myst like Erik, and even if someone manages to get through, last time I left several sensors to warn me if anyone enters again."

Eleonora gave Sigrún a big smile and said cheerfully, "That's good, Sig."

"But in a way, it's a relief that it was just a coincidence. But in the end, where does Erik come from?"

"Well, it turns out Erik is a direct descendant of the previous Astral Emperor."

"What?"

Sigrún quickly turned her gaze to Erik and his impressive black hair, which seemed to be made of a piece of outer space, full of stars and galaxies that appeared to sparkle with dark blue glints in the sunlight, and commented quickly.

"But the defining characteristic of the royal family of the Astral Empire is their pupils, which look like a starry night when they use magic, not their hair."

"Well, that's because Erik didn't inherit anything from the previous monarch. His hair and eyes were inherited from his mother, who was the youngest princess of a small vassal kingdom of the Astral Empire called the Valley of Sylphium.

Apparently, from what we discovered, the previous emperor was fascinated by the little princess's beauty and believed her hair was some sort of divine sign or something like that, as she was the only one in the entire royal family who had it. A family whose defining characteristic was their green eyes.

Due to that stupid belief and more likely tempted by the young woman's incredible beauty, he forced the kings to hand her over and impregnated her against her will, intending to consume the newborn's blood essence to increase his own talent and forcibly become a Master.

The princess was only 16 years old when this happened and was practically destroyed, so she asked her most trusted companion to escape with the baby before she died. However, he was discovered some time later and immolated himself, exploding his magic core, but he had already managed to hide Erik and took the secret to the grave."

Sigrún rose from her chair, indignant, exuding a dark intent so terrifying it seemed to darken the sun itself, while the air around her trembled violently, and a massive pressure that seemed to affect gravity itself began to wreak havoc on the surroundings.

But since Eleonora had predicted what would happen and had erected a barrier to contain Sigrún's murderous intent, as well as her own, which was no less intense, the phenomenon didn't alert anyone. Not even Erik, who was just a few meters away.

"That son of a bitch must die!" Sigrún announced with deep hatred in her words.

"Calm down, Sig, I'm not finished yet." Despite what she said, Eleonora's words were laden with a bloodlust that would frighten even the bravest.

"What are you going to tell me, Eli? I haven't heard that the previous Astral emperor is dead."

"Well, he's not really dead, but his current state is much worse."

"What do you mean?" Sigrún asked somewhat confused, causing the terrifying murderous intent she was releasing to waver slightly.

"The reason the princess's servant was able to escape from the capital planet of the Astral Empire was because the previous emperor's castle was in chaos, giving him the opportunity to flee with the child.

The day Erik was born, the previous emperor suffered a violent Myst tribulation, leaving him in a state worse than death, where he is kept alive only by an ancient treasure of the imperial family, and they are now forced to spend an exorbitant amount of resources to keep the treasure active."

"After all, the old bastard is their greatest combat force, and the current emperor is barely an Expert-Sage, not even an Arcane-level. So, that son of a bitch ended up becoming a cancer for the empire, depleting its resources and national strength."

Upon hearing Eleonora's words, Sigrún sat back down, while wicked smiles full of sadism and ill intentions formed on the exquisite faces of both women. This contrasted sharply with their elegant mannerisms as they drank their tea, as if they were savoring the misfortune of the former Astral Emperor instead of tea.

"That's really good to know, but I think I'll start making things difficult for the Astral Empire. I want to see its downfall as soon as possible," Sigrún commented in her melodious voice that sounded like the whispers of the cruelest and most ruthless demon.

"Don't worry about that. I already have a couple of very good ideas to make it happen, fufufu" Eleonora replied with an elegant laugh, but her typical elegant mannerisms, now gave the impression that it was the Empress of Demons herself speaking.