Chapter 161:
Chapter 161:
"What do you mean?"
Belluna asked urgently. Although it was said that it was a little longer, the period that Belluna thought and the period that Sarah thought would be different from that standard.
"I thought I should tell you guys in advance."
At Sarah's words, Benjamin's face contorted terribly. The eerie feeling he felt when his master disappeared from the magic tower without leaving a trace came instinctively. He raised his trembling hand and grabbed Sarah's hand, pleading.
"So, Master. please...... Let me know what you think. You know very well that I and Belluna won't be able to do anything this time."
"......"
"Because I know what the consequences of being selfish are."
If Sarah disappears from their sight again this time, Benjamin and Belluna will not be able to do anything. Knowing it so well, Sarah must have given it a promise, but it was not enough for them.
"Yeah, I got it."
Sarah smiled quietly at her disciples, who seemed to burst into tears at any moment. Both were still the same as when they were first brought to the tower by Sarah and followed her around like imprinted chicks. She realized that when she tried to hide it, swallow it in her mouth, and handle it alone, the results were rarely better. It might be better for a better future to ask for help, borrow strength, and combine even one's wisdom. I mean, it's best to be honest.
"You, too, have contributed to the study of Ambrosia's power, so you deserve it."
"......!"
At the same time, Sarah stroked the brightened faces of her disciples and continued to talk.
"After coming to Ambrosia, I've been back there twice."
"Twice?"
"Yeah, it's been a short time, but...... A lot of time has passed since I came back."
When she first saw Park Hyeyeon sleeping in Korea for the first time, she could only stay for a moment. The second time she went, she could have stayed longer, but compared to that time, she could see that Sarah Millen's time was running out at random.
"Besides, there are traces of my body acting on its own without my memory."
"......What does that mean?"
At Sarah's words, Benjamin's eyes widened in disbelief. It was a body that shared one soul. Having a void in her memory was impossible. Belluna asked in a cautious voice.
"Is the soul split in two?"
"No."
Sarah shook her head firmly. If that had happened, she would have felt it right away. She must have felt that her soul was broken or that only a certain part was shared. So she decided to think differently. A diary-type article written in Imperial language consisting of magic in Park Hyeyeon's laptop. It was a piece of writing that she wanted Sarah to read. Sarah in her soul state.
"I think it has something to do with memory."
"If it's memory......"
"I may have put a ban on myself."
It was like a kind of rule that Sarah lived by sharing Park Hyeyeon's body and soul. Rules for balancing all dimensions. Wasn't her soul also divided into two for balance? If one side of the balance was about to collapse, added more force to the other side and adjusted it.
"The more time I spend here, the more the balance breaks. But the reason I'm not falling apart and holding up well is that I'm paying the price on the other side."
"I thought the body over there was balanced by not being able to wake up......, that wasn't it."
"That's true."
Sarah smiled and patted Benjamin's hair with admiration. But Benjamin's serious face could not be resolved.
"You can't balance it with the usual price. And to get back there, you have to break the balance."
"That's right."
"Then the balance will come at a different price."
"That's true, too."
Looking at Sarah nodding with a smile, Benjamin, who felt something, swept his dry face with his hand and asked.
"What price are you trying to pay?"
"It's like my life force."
"Master!"
"......but it's not."
"Ha!"
At Sarah's next words, Benjamin let out a breath he had been holding back. For a moment, he thought Sarah was trying to sacrifice herself, so his heart almost jumped all over the place.
"In Korea, where I was, there is a saying. You have to listen to Korean until the end."
"This is the Empire."
Sarah smiled at the faces of Benjamin and Belluna, who seemed to have lost their souls for a moment.
"I am a person with a dream to eat well and live well here for a long time. I can't let go of my life that easily."
She meant it. She had just left with a pinky promise to live with Claude for a long time. She had no intention of betraying that promise, and she had no intention of letting go of Ethan Ambrosia in vain even though she hadn't even been able to seduce him yet.
"I will live until Claude-nim gets married and has a child, and that child has another child."
"Yess, please do."
Sarah winked at Benjamin, who was sweeping his chest. Benjamin glared at his master for the first time with profanity in his eyes. Belluna also looked at her with resentful eyes, so Sarah had no choice but to raise her hands and explain diligently.
"The second time I went over there, it was all trying to control Ambrosia's power. So, the power of Ambrosia will be the key that I can pass over there this time."
"Then you say you're going to sleep......"
"Yes, this time we need a stronger Ambrosia power. And we need to pay more."
"......"
"I need to find out this time. What is the price I am paying and why the world has turned upside down."
Through a series of events, Sarah realized that there were two truths she had to find out. One was the diary she had left on her laptop the last time she went into Park Hyeyeon's world. In the diary, Park Hyeyeon described the 'future' and the 'Flower of Darkness' in a different way. As if the novel 'Flower of Darkness' was originally the future of this world, and the 'future' she knew was a fictional world. And the other was the black magic that Oliven was learning.
'The traces found here are not just one or two years old. It's probably at least 100 years old.'
'If a being who had mastered this amount of black magic had left such a scar on the continent, we could not have been unaware of it. Great Elder-nim, this is......'
The magicians in the magic tower were still looking for traces of black magic left on the continent and reporting to Sarah. The only people who formally learned black magic on this continent were Oliven and the other magicians he had corrupted. The other black magicians were on the stage where they were learning black magic from Oliven. However, the scars of black magic discovered on the continent were not simply traces of those who had just learned them. It was a trace that was covered over time after a person who had already reached the peak of black magic had been swept away. At least a hundred years old.
"This power from Oliven will help. Enough to pay the price for me."
Sarah giggled at the black jewel that seemed to be trembling in her hand. At the sound of that laughter, Benjamin and Belluna's bodies also flinched and trembled.
"You don't think this is the right time to worry about Master?"
"......I know."
They looked at each other and murmured, then nodded, feeling a subtle sympathy. It was a moment when the disciples were able to understand each other after a very long time.
"Then there's no problem going there, but how are you going to come back here?"
"That's......"
Sarah lowered her voice as if it were secret and gestured, covering her mouth with her hand. Benjamin and Belluna looked at each other for a moment, and then, at Sarah's beckoning, put their ears near her mouth.
"Actually, I don't know."
"......Pardon?"
"......?"
For a moment, Belluna plucked her ears, wondering if she had heard something wrong. But she couldn't find the slightest hint of playfulness in Sarah's embarrassed smile.
"Actually, it was so quick when I came back...... I don't know how long I'll be there......"
"Master!"
"Oh, my God, I'm startled."
Sarah was startled by the screaming Benjamin and rubbed her chest. It had been a long time since Benjamin had spoken so loudly in front of her. When Sarah laughed at the unusual appearance of her disciple, Benjamin sighed deeply and continued his words.
"So you're going to go when you don't know if you'll be able to come back?"
"I can come back! Of course!"
"When!"
"......Uh umm."
Sarah closed her mouth, blurring her face with difficulty. It was a problem that could not be easily guaranteed.
"......Haa."
Seeing this, Benjamin sighed deeply and shook his head roughly.
"It's not like you don't think about it at all."
"......What are you saying?"
"Do I not know Master? If you believe in something, you are gambling."
"Right......"
"Please do say."
Sarah rolled her eyes for a moment, then smiled and said in a subtle voice.
"The power of Claude-nim."
"Yes?"
"What do you think it looks like?"
"......"
Benjamin and Belluna blinked slowly at Sarah's question for a moment, then came up with a hypothesis.
"No way, don't tell me, Master......"
"That's right."
"Either way, it's theoretically impossible."
"It is the power of Ambrosia that cannot be explained by any theory."
Sarah smiled at her disciples, who looked incredulous and skeptical. Her eyes were shining with wise light, and the benevolent smile that came to her mouth contained a solid self.