I Level Up Dragons with My Evolution System-Chapter 39: A goodbye

Finally, the other two frowned and removed their hoods. One was an elderly man with gray hair, the one who had joked earlier.

The other was a robust-looking young man, whose distinguishing feature was that he spoke little, but the expressions on his face were very expressive: right now, he looked worried.

"Did they take him away?" asked the gray-haired old man. "Does anyone harvest rotting bodies?" he joked at the end.

The first man scoffed. "Don’t say that, it sounds scary. Although I remember some idiots from the Theocracy doing it."

The gray-haired old man laughed out loud. "Yes, I was referring to them. Although it wouldn’t make sense for them to come this far for a measly Death Knight."

"I agree with you," said the investigator, looking at the ground. "But he’s not here."

This time the old man didn’t joke around. He knew this wasn’t the place for jokes. He decided to take a closer look and help the other man with his investigation.

A few minutes later, the investigator frowned. "These aren’t normal fire ashes," he said suddenly.

The old man also had some of those "ashes" in his hand and dropped them. "What are they, then? Cursed fire?" he asked.

"It could be," replied the investigator. "But now I understand. The body of this undead was burned, and that’s why we can’t find it."

He hadn’t finished giving his verdict when his eyes suddenly lit up.

"Holy magic!" he exclaimed in shock when he realized that a cursed fire couldn’t burn someone who was also cursed. It had to be something else.

These undead were highly resistant to normal fire, so it couldn’t be that kind of fire either.

Of all the types of fire that existed, only Holy Magic was capable of achieving this.

But...

"It can’t be, that disappeared many years ago," said the gray-haired old man quickly. "Besides, stop calling it Holy. That’s End Magic, End Magic!" He emphasized twice.

"Respect the ranks. Only God can use Holy," he complained.

"Shut up, you stupid old man," roared the investigator. "Why are you digressing? It doesn’t matter its name, the point is that it’s something that shouldn’t exist. Who the hell used that thing? And is it in Linnava?"

Finally, the old man fell silent. He had to give up that bad habit of digressing from the subject, whether it was in a joking or reproachful tone...

He just wanted to make sense of this long journey.

"Well, there’s not much we can do, is there?" The old man shrugged. "I was sent to investigate, not to look for mysteries. I’ll just give my verdict and let them take care of the rest."

The investigator wrinkled his nose. "Tsk, I don’t understand how the Prince values you so much."

The old man laughed. "That’s my magic, idiot. It’s about having personality, not being boring." Finally, he got up and spoke again before the investigator could complain.

"Tell me something, are there any traces of battles in this place?"

The investigator sighed. He loved research and wanted to delve deeper, but... well, maybe that’s why the prince sent him with this bastard, so he wouldn’t waste his time investigating mysteries that could later lead to his death.

’The Prince is wise, I must understand his verdicts,’ he thought.

"Yes, there is," he said with another long sigh. "Quite a lot, in fact."

"Any connection to the one above?" he asked.

The investigator looked at the place more closely. He had already decided to give an answer to that question, so he just wanted to confirm it.

"No." The investigator shook his head. "The one above seems to have been someone weak, he fought a Wight for quite a while. This is a different person."

The gray-haired Elder nodded. "Very well. End Magic used in this era, huh. We’re going to have problems soon." He laughed and began to stretch. Shortly after, he looked at the third one, who hadn’t said a word the whole time.

"Go and tell the Count to warn his Cave that we’re after a bastard..." He paused. "It could be a woman, also a bastard, who uses peculiar fire magic. We’re calling it ’Fire Enigma’ for the investigation. Go. Don’t be long, we have to get back. I don’t like Linnava’s food," he concluded.

The muscular man nodded. "Yes, elder," he replied, before jumping out of the cave and leaving. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

"Fire Enigma, you say..." The investigator sighed.

"How about it? Do you like the name?" The old man smiled. "Don’t flatter me too much, or I’ll get a big head."

"I’m not flattering you." The investigator sighed again. "It’s a horrible name..."

The old man laughed more.

---

Time flies, especially in the final months of the year. People get caught up in celebrations, looking to spend the money they worked hard to save throughout the year on end-of-year purchases and expenses.

This is true both on Earth and in this new world Edward has access to. Although the world has changed, it seems that the mentality of personal enjoyment at certain times of the year will remain.

Although Edward finds this meaningless, perhaps it is because of his experiences on Earth. He had to support himself while an illness ate away at him from the inside. He couldn’t afford to spend money when he didn’t even have enough for his own treatment.

Despite that, he can understand them. They are like him on earth, in part. They live constantly in a world where someone else’s mistake can easily kill them. Where there are cursed races plaguing their lives and where, occasionally, organizations go to war.

Peace here is not achieved through diplomacy... it is not achieved at all. Even the strong end up dead, and even the gods that once existed have ceased to exist.

No one is safe.

That is why everyone wants to enjoy the sweat of their brow as much as possible.

As he looked out the window at the city below him from a permanently rented inn, Edward sighed and turned to look at his old but eccentric friend.

"Will, wouldn’t it be better for you to work here to sell your stories? There’s more of a market in Lor than in Lunafer, after all," Edward said.

William smiled, a slight self-deprecation flashing across his face.

"People aren’t so demanding in Lunafer, Edward," he replied. "I’ll be able to sell my stories there, and even if they have mistakes, people will enjoy them."

Edward shook his head. "You’re underestimating yourself too much, Will. Your stories are good, and I’ve given you ideas for novels that you’ve been able to develop very well. Here you could make them shine. Promotion isn’t that expensive these days, and people want to read stories to clear their minds."

William sighed. "I’d rather stay away from the summoners," he whispered softly, thinking Edward couldn’t hear him.

He didn’t realize that Edward currently had quite sharp senses.

’So it’s the shadow of the past, huh.’ Edward sighed.

William had also dreamed of becoming a Beastmaster. His dream was to create his own stories based on his experiences as a summoner. He wanted to give people a closer understanding of what it means to be a Beastmaster, since no one had done so before.

Unfortunately, fate can sometimes be cruel.

He grabbed some heavy suitcases and slung them over his shoulder. "I’d rather spend my days from now on with my family. Since I graduated, I can start working on the land. Lunafer is prosperous these days," he said as he left the room.

Edward followed closely behind him, and they both went downstairs. William paid for the last meals he had eaten, said goodbye to the innkeeper he had known for a few months, and left.

Outside... he froze when he saw a carriage waiting for him. The man ran toward him and grabbed the suitcases to help them load them without him being able to do anything.

William felt confused and looked at Edward...

He smiled. "I thought, if I can’t convince him, at least I should make sure he leaves comfortably," he said and patted him on the shoulder. "I’ll come visit you when I get the chance," he said.

William stared at him for over a minute before sighing and forcing a smile.

"I hope that when I see you again, you can proudly say that you married Miss Aurora." He joked a little, returning the gesture, before jumping into the carriage.

"I’ll send you letters from time to time, Edward. Your stories were interesting, so write back with some new ones," he shouted.

The man in the carriage immediately began to drive away after giving Edward a respectful greeting, and the carriage drove off.

’It looks like I’ll have lonely days from now on,’ Edward thought.

Perhaps he should try to make friends... although with his surname, such a thing was impossible. Only Aurora would risk befriending him.

He watched the carriage until it disappeared from view. Then he turned around and began walking back to the academy.

The school year would begin in a few days, and he had to prepare.

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