ILLYML – 15.2

“Well, that’s okay. It doesn’t matter whether you run away or not. But I want to know this. Do you know me?”

“……..”

“Oddly enough, I think you know me even though I’ve seen you for the first time at the auction today.”

It was similar to what Hypron said to me.

Did he feel this way too?

This man I’ve never seen before seems strangely familiar.

The man was still silent.

I wasn’t disappointed because I didn’t expect his response.

“You don’t want to answer that either? Well, that’s okay. I don’t intend to force you.”

Instead, I walked away to the old table with a single step.

I put my hand on the table, smiled languidly, and turned to the man.

“I know I’m shameless, but since you’ve helped me once, why don’t you help me one more time?”

I had no basis for this hunch, but my intuition told me this man would surely help me.

***

He ran and ran. His lungs screamed, and he gasped, struggling for air and completely out of breath.

Nevertheless, he ran without stopping.

Igelto still couldn’t believe he was alive.

I thought I was going to die.

Yes. The hot fire hit him, and he was struggling in pain.

Then, at some point, I didn’t feel any pain.

When he realized that, he felt increasingly strange.

Even though flames covered and licked him, there wasn’t a single burn.

The bracelet glowed.

Igelto took his eyes off the bracelet and looked around.

I don’t know when it happened, but the auction house was consumed in flames.

And somehow, I was still alive in the midst of all of it.

At first, I thought it was a miracle.

However, the more I think back, the more I feel that it is not a coincidence.

Igelto looked down at the bracelet on his wrist.

For some reason, he couldn’t erase the feeling that there was more to this bracelet than he had initially thought.

Maybe this bracelet was protecting him.

Igelto continued running towards the exit.

Finally, there was a light peaking out.

“Choke-!”

The moment before he reached the exit, Igelto’s body was pushed against the wall.

Not because he lost his footing, but because of an irresistible force that crushed his body.

But it didn’t feel like someone pushed me.

The impact on the wall prevented Igelto from moving easily.

I looked around hazily with blurred vision.

A shadowy figured approach, and I heard the echo of it walking toward me from a distance.

“What? You are alive?”

Igelto instinctively shrunk back.

This is dangerous.

***

I failed Plan A: Buy the elf.

But Plan B has not yet failed.

I gave Igelto a bracelet for Plan B.

In the first place, there was no such thing as a magic bracelet to fulfill a contract.

It was a word made up to pass the moment.

Igelto’s bracelet is meant to protect him from danger. If you didn’t tell him, he wouldn’t risk his life believing in the power of the bracelet.

Because there is a risk.

At the same time, the bracelet was also a medium for mobile magic.

Before the auction began, I drew a magic circle around a statue.

The magic circle transported what I desired if I injected mana into it. What I wanted would be moved to the magic circle.

Before the male protagonist came at me, I immediately ran to the magic circle and tried to summon Igelto.

So the magic circle and the magic bracelet I put on Igelto’s wrist acted as a connecting bridge between us.

Human eyes could barely see the place where I painted the magic circle because it was so dark.

Also, the distance from the auction house was adequate.

As the distance increases, the amount of mana it consumes increases as well.

Considering the amount of magic power I could consume, the distance was close, but it far enough away from the auction house.

I wish I could avoid such a troublesome endeavor and just run off with Igelto, but I couldn’t.

The first floor was very messy, so it was difficult to move.

And you’re going to take the elf out of the area where the hero is?

That’s ridiculous.

I made a mana sword appear in my hand and drew a circle on the desk.

I couldn’t reach the magic circle I had drawn near the auction house, so I had to draw a new one quickly. And then proceeded to draw all kinds of formulas within the circle.

It was challenging to draw on the rough wood. But now that there was no paper, the only place to draw the magic circle was this table.

“It’s done. Now, then, give it a little bit of your power.”

It was the same magic spell I drew before the auction started.

At my words, the man put his hand on the magic circle.

Then, a dim light began to rise above the magic circle.

The man was obedient to my words.

I couldn’t help but wonder about the motivation behind all his eccentric actions.

“Is this a moving magic circle?”

“Yes.”

“…… I’m sorry, but I can’t recall it.”

“What?”

I quickly put my hand on the magic circle.

I checked if there was a problem with the magic I drew, but nothing was wrong with it.

Even if the lines are loose, I drew them accurately.

‘…… Is the bracelet broken?’

Igelto alone cannot break the bracelet.

It is designed so that only the person who put it on and filled it with mana can take it off.

With powerful mana, the tightly-knit bracelet was a high-grade magic item.

If such a bracelet broke…..

There is one hypothesis that can be established here.

He met a wizard who had a stronger ability than the bracelet had.

“Can you use teleportation one more time?”

The man nodded, telling me could.