CHAPTER  17 

The Temple of the Wise Serpent (1)

After escaping safely from Talisa, Khazar and Ernolf arrived at a valley and decided to take a break.

While Khazar washed himself in the valley stream and gathered firewood for a campfire, Ernolf stayed in the water, fiddling with something.

“Is that the artifact the priest had?”
Khazar asked as he saw Ernolf struggling to remove something stuck to the palm of his left hand.

“Yeah. I think that’s what let him use the Chimera magic. If he hadn’t used all his strength fighting me, he probably would’ve turned the lord’s son into a monster.”

Khazar had always wondered why the Blue Vine Temple failed to stop the disease in his past life. Now he knew—the artifact lost its power.

“Can’t you use it again? You managed to bring it with you, so maybe it’s not completely broken.”

“Maybe… if I can recharge it. But I don’t know how. Even if I pour mana into it, nothing happens.”

The artifact was completely asleep, and without basic activation, he couldn’t even analyze its functions.
Ernolf frowned, scratching at his hand with his fingers.

‘This is so annoying.’
He had been excited to get a legendary artifact, but now it just seemed useless and stuck on his hand.

“Want me to cut it off with a knife? Maybe slicing your palm could work.”

“Why not just chop off my whole hand?”

“That works too.”
Khazar laughed as Ernolf grumbled.

Thinking about the artifact reminded Khazar of the city they left behind.

‘Maybe the future will change now?’

In this life, Tirad (Ernolf’s real name) killed the priests and warned the lord about the disease and forbidden hybrids. That never happened in Khazar’s previous life.

He thought—maybe this time, Talisa wouldn’t fall in 11 years.

‘I didn’t think my brother staying alive would change things this much.’

Khazar glanced at Ernolf, who was now hunched over, scratching at his palm.

‘Last time, I went alone to find our parents. If I go with him this time… will things change again?’

Ernolf had already changed the fate of a whole city. Maybe he could change their parents’ fate too.

“Stop playing around. Go start the fire.”

“What am I, a flint stone?”

Still complaining, Ernolf flicked his fingers and lit a branch with magic.

Khazar stuck more twigs into the fire, then told Ernolf to catch some fish while coming out of the water.

Grumbling that physical work was for aura users like Khazar, Ernolf still used magic to catch two big freshwater fish and tossed them at Khazar.

They always said one thing but did another.

“Clean out the guts. Stuff the belly with some makgam tree leaves to kill the fishy smell. And don’t cut it too finely or you’ll ruin the meat.”

“Can’t we just eat it plain?”

Khazar clenched his teeth and warned him seriously.

“Oh right, salt! I think I saw salt flowers growing on the cliff earlier. Go get some.”

Ernolf didn’t care how mad Khazar looked and just told him what to do.

“Why do you always go crazy when it’s time to eat?!”

“Because food should taste good. Cooking is all about the seasoning.”

“Then YOU go get it!”

“I would—if my hands weren’t messed up.”

Ernolf’s left hand still had the weird artifact stuck in it, and his right arm was burnt from Irnatol’s magic.

“Argh, seriously!”

Khazar angrily threw his knife at Ernolf’s feet.

His blood was boiling, and it reminded him of the first time they went to a tavern together.

Flashback: Their First Meal at an Inn

After giving the crazy wild boar to the Blue Vine Temple, they had rented a room in an inn near the market. Ernolf kept begging to eat “real civilized food,” so they ended up at a tavern.

“What’s your best dish here?”
Ernolf asked as soon as they sat down.
Khazar was about to say, “Just bring anything,” but Ernolf beat him to it.

The tavern worker laughed at them—these dirty kids didn’t even look like they had money, and here they were asking about menus.

Khazar took out his knife. Ernolf calmly placed a coin on the table. The server nervously took the coin.

“We’re good at pheasant and pigeon. Pheasant’s ready now. Pigeon will take time.”

“Then I’ll have chicken.”
Ernolf replied smoothly.

‘What’s wrong with this guy?’
The server stared in disbelief.

But Ernolf kept going:

“Stuff the chicken with beer, rub it with oil and salt, and roast it with bay leaves for about an hour. Add whole garlic to bring out the flavor.”

The server was stunned. Ernolf even added:

“Don’t use an old chicken—it’ll be too tough. Pick a young one.”

Khazar, furious, kicked Ernolf’s shin under the table.

“You’ve only eaten pig slop before. What do YOU know about food? Where’d you hear all this?”

“Books.”

Ernolf looked annoyed at the greasy table and wrinkled his nose.

Just then, the huge chef came stomping out with a cleaver in hand.

“Which brat dared to insult my cooking?”

Khazar quietly loosened his sword. Ernolf stared at the cleaver.

“Want to stop cooking and have a fight?”

Khazar couldn’t stand anyone else insulting his brother—even if he did it himself.

“Did you just say… fight?”
The chef roared.

But Ernolf stood up calmly.

“That cleaver shows your passion for cooking. It’s well-sharpened, custom-fitted, and clean. It’s basically a masterpiece. Using it to kill someone would be a waste.”

The chef was stunned. His lips trembled with emotion.

“You’re the first one to notice the value of my blade…”

Khazar rolled his eyes.
‘It’s just a kitchen knife!’

But Ernolf was completely serious.

“It was rude of me to order something simple like roast chicken. A master like you deserves a real challenge.”

“You’re saying…?”

“We saw a giant white-horned deer earlier. I’ll bring it to you. Show us your true skills.”

“Wait, you mean the monster with lightning antlers?!”

“Yeah. Its meat is chewy and clean. The blood builds poison resistance. You can sell the horn for a good price.”

“You’re really going to catch that thing?”

“Didn’t you see us bring in a wild boar? My little brother here is an aura user.”

Ernolf proudly threw an arm around Khazar’s shoulder.

Other customers gasped and stared at Khazar.

“Can’t we just eat anything?!”

“That deer meat boosts stamina. You like money, right?”

“Where do you even get this stuff?”

“Books.”

“Why are all your books about food?!”

Khazar thought Ernolf was training to improve magic, but apparently he was just strengthening his taste buds.

“I’m hungry. Go get it.”

No matter how angry Khazar got, Ernolf wouldn’t budge.

That night, Khazar fought the deer through the entire forest. By dawn, they finally had a meal.

The meat was so good, Khazar blanked out after the first bite and trembled with joy after the second.

It was the best deer meat Khazar had ever eaten in his life.

‘Stupid food freak. If it wasn’t actually amazing, I’d kill you.’

So today, he was once again climbing a cliff with his bare hands to gather salt flowers.

‘I should just grab all of them so he doesn’t make me come back.’

He shoved the flowers into his pouch.

“Huh?”
That’s when he noticed something strange.