It was right then.
A voice came from one of the ruined sites.
Ian immediately responded to that voice.
At the same time, he gathered significant amount of mana.
He was fully prepared for a fight.
'It's not human.'
Ian knew that as soon as he heard the voice. It was so, for the obvious reasons. The seer detection spell is a magic that allows sensing the flow of mana and all life forms within the range, yet no information on 'life forms' from that spell has been detected. So…..
'It was not a human, monster or anything else.'
Human, monster or even a dragon.
They all cannot transcend the range of 'life form category'.
Something that stood fine even having bypassed the range of that category.
The entity that can move and speak in such a manner.
There is only one entity like that.
'An Undead.'
An undead that has been reborn through black magic.
That was the only conclusion he could draw.
"Lift your guard. This place is home to me and my kind from long ago. If anyone should be vigilant, it should be us against an uninvited intruder."
Ian narrowed his eyes upon hearing the voice, thought to be, of an undead man. A man that meets many characteristics of the descriptions in the diary. That is, with the description of 'master craftsman's characteristics' recorded in Mitchell Greenriver's diary.
'Black hair, pale skin and the cunning voice that does not mesh with its appearance.'
Everything matched up from one to ten.
It was the time to verify the last characteristic.
"I've come to this Knocking Island with that child's request."
Ian purposely spoke in the language of the Greenriver Empire.
"Child? That child, who is sleeping?"
In response, the man thought to be an undead spoke in fluent language of Greenriver Empire. There was not even a trace of insufficiency. Ian was certain although they have only exchanged words just twice.
This man, he must certainly be closely related to the said master craftsman in the Greenriver's diary.
"And yes, I've come to seek you as well."
"….. Do you know me?"
In response to that question, Ian took out the diary of Greenriver and a stone that had Craven's message from the spatial pouch.
"I've seen the written record of you in this book. Do you remember the name of Mitchell Greenriver?"
"Certainly, he is the fellow that granted me a difficult favor."
"This is the diary of that sorcerer. And."
After closing the diary, Ian showed Craven's message.
"And this is the message that this child has left."
The man who received Craven's message.
He surveyed Craven's face.
"ha, it's him, Craven."
Finally, the man nodded his head.
He must have finally recognized Craven.
"I'm sorry that your visit may be in vain….."
The man murmured as he looked at Ian.
"Do not wake up that child."
"Is there a reason?"
"There will only be disappointments."
Ian was very perceptive. Craven's message indicated that he could not die even if he wanted to die and that the man that watched over this island was certainly an undead. There was also a very high probability that Craven was also an undead.
"Are you all undead?"
"Similar. I mean, we could be perceived that way."
The man acknowledged without much hesitation.
He could feel mixed emotions of both reluctant acceptance and pain in that short answer.
"As far as I know, undead is an invincible entity, but understand that there is a way to become extinct."
The method could be cruel, but it was certainly possible. As Ian had destroyed Herbert, the former tower lord of the Ivory Tower, who was reborn as an undead, there existed a way of incinerating the body parts.
"I also thought so."
But the man's response didn't seem that way.
"To Mitchell Greenriver, the sorcerer, I've repeatedly asked him for the same thing. That I wanted to die now, so do burn the pieces of my body. He rejected it many times, but honored my request in the end."
It was a request of the 'master craftsman' that did not appear in the diary.
It was understandable that it was not mentioned at all.
Wasn't it a truly cruel act?
"I thought that I could die forever with that."
The man shrugged his shoulders when he said that.
He was eventually reborn was what he meant to say.
"Death was just my, but all my kind's objective. That is, for everyone that had lived on this island. We went out to find a way to die and bring it back, but nothing even to this day. Craven must be hiding inside his memory, unable to handle the situation."
Hiding behind his memory.
It must mean that he has closed off his original memory.
It was the reason behind the multiple personality condition.
As he may have lived in many countless forms.
Ian fell into a thought for a moment.
Find the master craftsman and make the artifact.
That simple beginning has become very complicated.
What should I ask that man first?
"…..Fran."
It wasn't too difficult to find the right answer.
The name stayed with him from the moment he's heard it.
I must ask the true identity behind that name.
"By any chance, do you know someone by the name of Fran?"
The man's consistent dryness in expression has suddenly wiggled. It indicated the importance of the name Fran.
"Has Craven told you of that name?"
"He has often comeback as a normal personality. It was the name that he had referenced. It is that Fran is also an important name to me that I'd like an answer if possible."
"Hmm….."
The man frowned upon hearing that.
He also began to look around here and there.
Everything from Ian's toe to the top of his head.
His eyes rested, more specifically on Ian's hair.
"Now I look at it, you appear somewhat alike."
Ian felt his heart pump loudly.
That was because the word alike carried a lot of weight.
"By any chance, are you also a sorcerer?"
"That is so."
"As time has passed greatly, you couldn't be a son."
"What…..?
"Could you be a descendant?"
At this point, his heart instantly became silent from pumping loudly. It was because he was in an utmost anxious condition. It was as if to open a forbidden box that should have never been opened.
"Fran Paige."
"What, What did you just say….."
"The name was often used by that one."
The man's voice continued.
"It was the name of the one who gave us the eternal life, which we had once desired."