Advent of the Three Calamities

Chapter 823: Evelyn’s Plight [2]

Evelyn’s training grew more intense.

She only appeared in the middle of the night or when she needed to ease the frost spreading through the others in the room. Each time, her presence seemed weaker, her face growing paler with every passing day, and all I could do was watch in silence.

I didn’t stop her.

I decided to respect her wishes while considering a way to help her.

“Hey, Julien.”

A small voice brought me out of my attention.

Lying on the floor next to me, the little girl blinked her eyes.

“Can you tell me more about the world you come from?”

“The one I come from?”

“Yes. Yes.”

The little girl nodded.

“…I’ve never been outside. I am curious. How is it? Is it warm?”

“Warm?”

Well…

“It depends.”

“Eh…?”

Penelope’s large eyes blinked. Despite not being able to see, that didn’t mean that she didn’t need to blink.

“The temperature can change? But how…?”

“Well, it’s mainly because the weather over there changes depending on the season.”

“Season? What’s that?”

“It’s like this.”

I started to explain to the little girl the entire concept of seasons and how they worked. She listened to everything with wonder, her little eyes lighting up at certain areas.

“That’s incredible!”

Of course, Ilyen found it interesting as well.

It was just that he communicated his excitement through his movements as he threw his hands up.

“So in the sommer it can get really hot?”

“Summer.”

I corrected before nodding.

“That’s right. It can get really hot in the summer. Sometimes, it gets so hot that it’s really uncomfortable. Just standing outside will cause us to sweat.”

“What!”

“Yes, yes.”

I knew I was wasting time talking to the children, but when I saw their expressions, I couldn’t bring myself to stop. It was clear they had never set foot outside the city. Too young, and maybe too bound by circumstances they couldn’t control.

But the next question that she asked made me pause.

“Do you think I will be able to feel it? The Summer?”

“…..”

To her question, I wasn’t able to answer.

My throat went dry as I met the eyes of the young girl and boy, both of them gazing up at me with a quiet, fragile hope that I didn’t know how to answer.

But as if I were noticing my hesitation, the expressions on the two dimmed.

Only for the little girl to smile again.

“Well, I hate the sweaty. Maybe I don’t want to see it after all.”

Nod. Nod.

Ilyen nodded next to her, and my heart sank.

“Hey, hey.”

A greasy voice sounded from behind me. When I turned, I saw the old man approaching with a lazy smile on his face. He lifted a hand and pointed toward the children, shaking his head in quiet disapproval.

“Don’t you two try to get ahead of me. If there’s anyone that’s going to see this somber, it’s going to be me.”

“It’s summer, old man.”

Penelope corrected, folding her arms together.

“Ehh..?”

The old man looked at me, his expression seeming to say, ’I’m not wrong, right? I heard that, correct? Tell me I’m right!’

“Yes, it’s summer.”

The old man despaired, and the children giggled.

I looked at the old man and smiled. I wasn’t naive. I could tell he had done it on purpose, trying to lift the mood in his own subtle way.

I secretly thanked him in my heart as he sat down next to me.

“Well, I’m actually really curious about this somal—”

“Summer.”

“Ah, right, whatever you young folks wanna call it. Heh. Y’know, I’ve been curious about this whole summer thing myself. Been livin’ in this darn city my whole life, never seen it quite like this. Heard tell that down in Kyron, the weather’s about the same. Maybe that’s where you’re from, eh?”

“Kyron…?”

I thought for a moment. If I wasn’t wrong, that was the City of Fire.

’…They’re probably facing something similar to what we’re facing. Just that it’s most likely related to fire than cold.’

I shuddered at the thought.

Perhaps, we didn’t have it so bad here.

“No, I don’t come from there. I’ve never been to Kyron, but I presume that there’s no such thing as winter there.”

“Oh, right.”

The old man smacked his head.

“Silly ol’ me. How could I forget about something like this?”

He chuckled before continuing with the conversation. Old Sal… He was like this. He talked a lot and was especially good at reading the mood. With just a few words from him, the children no longer looked sad, and I felt a lot better.

“Heh, y’know, back in my day, we used to head out into the snow and toss snowballs at whoever walked by. Got ourselves into all sorts of trouble, but boy, it was a good time. I remember one winter, one of my buddies even lobbed one at one of those fellas from the church. Hah! Needless to say, he caught it worse than the snowball did.”

“Hahaha! Really!? So silly….!”

Even I couldn’t help but smile upon hearing some of his stories. They were pretty fun.

“But you know…”

Leaning his head against the wall, the old man stared at the lights above, his smile fading for a moment as his hand stretched upwards.

For a moment, he sat in silence.

But then—

“…I’m really curious about this summer thing. In fact, I’m also curious to see how the other cities are. Are they as pretty as here? Or are they worse? How does grass look? What about the food? Is it the same…?”

The old man’s eyes were a little hazy as he spoke.

I could understand where he was coming from. Stuck in the same place, he probably wanted to see what the world outside the bubble he lived in looked like.

“But you know, I think it’s also fine like this.”

The old man smiled once more, chuckling slightly.

“…I’ve had a nice life. There are no real regrets. Only wishes.”

With a soft ’huaaa’, he helped himself up, touching his back. His face scrunched up as he did, “Ay, my back! What was I thinkin’, sittin’ down here? Takes me longer to stand up than it does to fall asleep!”

Looking at him, I smiled once more.

’He’s not even touching his own back. He’s touching his hip.’

“Shut it, old man!”

A voice cut through a moment later.

“We all know your back is just fine. Even if you were in pain, you’d probably not feel it.”

“Hey now, watch it, young lass! That’s any way to talk to your elders, huh?”

“Stop it, please. I’m trying to focus.”

“What focus? I know you’re acting. You’re just jealous that we can hear all of this and you can’t.”

“Sure, sure.”

Chloe dismissively waved her hand at the old man.

“Whatever helps you sleep.”

“Ay, ay… the young generation these days. They really don’t know how to talk to their elders anymore.”

Grumbling to himself, the old man went over to sit by the sofa. As he sat down, he mumbled, “Summer, huh? What an interesting thing.”

He seemed lost in thought, likely still mulling over our earlier conversation. Then I felt a gentle tug at my sleeve and glanced down to see the young girl gazing up at me with wide, curious eyes.

“You haven’t talked about Spring and Autumn. How are they?”

“Spring and Autumn? Hmm.” I thought for a moment, and was just about to answer, when…

“Heek!”

A sudden yelp broke through the quiet, startling all of us. I turned my head and saw the old man rising abruptly from the sofa, one hand clutching his chest as the color drained from his face.

“Cough! Cough—!”

He started coughing loudly, and the children immediately rushed towards him.

“Ol’Sal!”

“…..!”

Even Chloe looked startled as she rushed towards him.

“Hey, hey!”

But it was to no avail.

“Cough! Cough!”

The old man continued to cough, each one louder than the last. The children immediately started to cry, and as if sensing this, the old man forcefully suppressed a cough as he sat back down on the sofa and forced out a few words: “I’m… fine.”

He patted the children’s heads as he did.

“See? I’m… cough!!”

“Hey! Hey! Stop speaking, you old crank!”

Chloe rushed to his side, pressing her hand against his chest as a soft glow spread from her palm. Mana flowed into his body, and for a brief moment, the tension in his features eased. But as the seconds passed, his complexion continued to fade, and it became clearer that her efforts were in vain.

I tried to help myself, but it was no use.

This wasn’t my specialty.

The only thing I could do was provide my mana to Chloe.

Clank—!

Not a moment later, the door opened and two figures walked in.

“Velar!”

“…Sister!”

Neither of the two made a sound as they rushed towards the old man.

“Step aside.”

Evelyn’s expression hardened with resolve. She moved beside the old man and pressed her hands against his chest. A low, muffled rumble emanated from within her as faint streaks of lightning began to crackle across her eyes, the air around her humming at her actions.

Velar didn’t sit idly, either.

He stood opposite Evelyn and did the same.

With the two working together, the old man’s complexion visibly improved.

For a moment, everyone started to ease. I was the same.

I thought that they’d resolve the situation.

But—

“Pfttt!”

Blood burst from the old man’s mouth, splattering across the floor as his face drained of all color. Frost began to spread beneath his feet, thin tendrils of ice creeping upward, wrapping around his legs and inching higher toward his chest.

“Sal!”

“Shit, old man!”

“….!!”

Everyone’s expression changed. Everyone but one person.

Evelyn stayed perfectly still, her eyes shut tight as she focused all her strength on keeping the old man from slipping further. Her hands trembled slightly, but she didn’t waver, pouring every bit of her remaining energy into holding the sickness at bay.

But even with her entire focus and Velar’s help, the frost didn’t stop.

It continued to creep up on the old man.

Slowly, the frost began to creep higher, encasing his legs inch by inch as it climbed upward, spreading its cold grip across his body.

Cra Crack! Cra Crack!

The low rumble of thunder continued to pulse from within Evelyn, vibrating faintly through the air. Her face grew even paler, and she bit down on her lip until a thin line of blood appeared. Despite that, she kept going, forcing every last drop of her mana into the old man in a desperate attempt to save him.

She didn’t say anything, but I could see what she was thinking.

I didn’t stop her.

Instead, I started helping her.

Using my Emotive Magic, I tried to calm her mind. I even injected my mana into her body.

I did everything that I could’ve.

Everything.

But everything wasn’t enough.

“S-stop.”

The old man’s words echoed in the air, causing evereything to pause as he blankly stared at the ceiling. By now, half of his body had frozen.

“Stop… wasting your energy on me.”

He smiled.

“…It’s too late for me.”