Episode 15
“This is the Final Territory, Elisha.”
Heraith said this while placing a hand on my shoulder.
A cold wind blew, hard to believe it was summer.
‘So that’s why Captain Kepitin gave me this thick coat.’
I clutched the coat tightly against the chill.
“Sir Jacqueline, huff, you must, huff, go now, huff—”
The mage who came with us for teleportation was gasping for air as he called Jacqueline.
He must’ve pushed himself too hard, continuing the teleportation magic without rest.
‘This must be really urgent.’
Jacqueline looked at us and nodded.
“I’ll go ahead.”
I waved both hands.
“Okay. See you later, Jacqueline.”
“…Be careful.”
After hesitating for a moment, Jacqueline said goodbye and disappeared.
Heraith then gently held my shoulder and guided me into a worn stone building.
“I told them you came to help investigate the Final Territory as a summoner. So you know what to do, right?”
“I need to help the other summoners, right? Got it.”
If I can be helpful, I’m happy to do it.
‘Besides, I’ve done many investigations in areas polluted with demonic energy.’
We’ve been chasing traces of the Demon King for a long time.
Before El appeared three years ago, I was the one in our group who always handled demonic energy investigations.
‘I’ve done this dozens of times.’
Confidence returned to me for the first time in a while.
Maybe Heraith noticed it, because he gave me a faint smile.
“This is the guesthouse where the summoners are staying. From here, this person will guide you.”
“I’m Rick.”
A man I’d never seen before greeted us at the entrance.
“I have to go now. Elisha, fighting!”
Heraith gave me a thumbs-up and quickly left.
Just like Jacqueline, he must also be busy.
Rick, who seemed to be a summoner, bowed politely to me.
“I’ll take you to the commander.”
We climbed to the top floor, and Rick said he would explain things after going into the room first.
So I waited alone by the door.
Just then, I saw some summoners walking down the hallway.
“Huh? That person…”
One of them widened their eyes, recognizing me—or more likely, El.
“Isn’t that Lady El?”
“Hey. That’s such an old story. Lady El left a long time ago.”
“Then who is she?”
“She’s the one who became the vessel to summon Lady El.”
They were whispering at the end of the hallway.
They must’ve thought I couldn’t hear them.
Or maybe they saw me as some kind of celebrity they could talk about openly.
‘I can hear everything, you know…’
But their words weren’t something I could respond to—or ignore—easily.
If I said something, it might cause trouble for Heraith.
So I just kept my eyes on the door, pretending I didn’t hear anything.
“I heard Priest Heraith sent a message saying he’d bring a summoner to help today. That must be her.”
“Ah, that makes sense. She might not be as great as Lady El, but she must be a pretty good summoner too.”
Pretend you didn’t hear. Pretend you didn’t hear.
I was starting to worry my face had turned red from embarrassment.
Just then, Rick opened the door.
“Please come in.”
Inside, a middle-aged woman greeted me.
She wore an eye patch over one eye.
“Hello. I’m Terra. Thank you for your cooperation.”
“I’m Elisha.”
I bowed politely as well.
Terra had a serious look as she spread a map on the table where I could see it clearly.
“I’ll get to the point. There’s no time.”
She pointed to a darkened area on the map.
“This is the border between the Final Territory and the normal regions.”
“…”
“We plan to purify the demonic energy that has crossed into the normal area. First, we need to confirm the contaminated zones using summoned creatures.”
She kept tapping the map with her fingers as she spoke. Must be a habit.
“But the contamination is worse than expected, and most of our summoners are already exhausted. Thank you for coming to help.”
“I’ll do my best.”
“I heard you have experience investigating contaminated areas.”
“Yes.”
“Then this should be easy to explain.”
She ran her hand along the map.
“Please summon a creature here and send it into the suspected contamination zone.”
It’s dangerous for people or animals to enter those areas directly.
They might get infected and even die.
That’s why summoners send summoned creatures instead.
‘Same method as three years ago.’
Something I’ve done many times.
I relaxed a bit.
Until she said the next part.
“After that, let us know the moment the summon is forcibly released.”
Huh?
What does that mean?
Does she mean the summoned creature disappears after entering the contaminated area?
Why?
I’ve sent summons into demonic energy zones before.
But the summons were never forcibly removed.
‘A summon is only forcefully released when the summoner’s energy runs out.’
And even that usually happens only when something interrupts the summoning—like an outside force breaking the connection or hurting the summoner.
‘But I don’t think that’s what Terra means.’
I thought for a bit, then asked,
“What do you mean by the summon being forcibly released?”
Looking tired, Terra lifted her hand from the map and looked at me.
“Magic, spiritual energy, and divine power can resist demonic energy. But if the demonic energy is strong enough, it can overpower those forces.”
“Yes.”
“So if we send a summon into a contaminated zone, it’s usually forced to disappear because the energy holding it fades away.”
Her explanation was kind.
But…
‘I still don’t get it.’
“You mean the summon disappears because of the contamination?”
Terra gave me a strange look.
Like I’d just asked if the sun rises in the east.
“Yes. It happens to your summons too, right?”
“No.”
“…What?”
“It’s never happened to me.”
Not even once.
I understood what she meant now:
Step 1 – Send the summon into the suspected contaminated area.
Step 2 – If the summon vanishes, assume the area is polluted.
But I can’t use that method. My summons don’t disappear.
Her suspicious eyes focused on me.
“Maybe the demonic energy was weaker where you visited?”
“It was the Otrang region. About four years ago.”
I’ve been to many places, but that was the worst contamination I’d seen.
In fact, Otrang was so dangerous the Emperor banned people from going there.
‘Of course, we went in secretly.’
Even there, my summons passed through the contamination just fine. They never vanished.
“They went through the area fully. They didn’t get erased.”
“Wow…”
Terra let out a long sigh.
She must remember Otrang too.
“I see. Did Priest Heraith mention this?”
Terra looked at Rick, who nodded right away.
“He said Elisha’s summons can go where others can’t, so she’d be very helpful.”
“It’s really true then.”
Terra sounded amazed.
‘Heraith must’ve told them in advance.’
I silently thanked him in my heart.
Terra looked deep in thought.
“Your summons don’t disappear even when touching demonic energy… How is that possible?”
Even if she asked, I didn’t have an answer.
‘It’s always been that way for me.’
Honestly, I didn’t even know most summons could be erased by demonic energy until today.
If I had to guess—
Maybe because my summons can’t physically touch anything, nothing can touch them either?
I gave Terra a slightly awkward smile.
Suddenly, her eyes lit up as if she had just made a huge discovery.
“Then… does that mean you can purify demonic energy?”
It felt like a sharp needle poked my heart.
I froze with that same awkward smile on my face.
“You can summon Victoria like Lady El did!”
Terra’s eyes sparkled like she had just found a miracle.
Since my summons aren’t affected by demonic energy, she must’ve thought they could overcome or purify it too.
So she immediately thought of Victoria, the only summon that could purify demonic energy.
‘She misunderstood.’
I barely managed to force out a reply.
“No.”
“Oh…”
Terra’s expression darkened immediately.
It was like someone who had finally found a light in the dark, only for it to be taken away again.
A strange feeling of guilt pricked at my chest.
