Magical Journey: The Other Shore Blooms on the Other Shore

Chapter 109 The Desert Holy City of Santiago (Part 7)

"Was the book good?" Chekhov asked as Atlan and Elena talked all night in the next room not far away.

"Just a way to pass the time," Qin replied, her gaze never leaving the book.

"Um... could I borrow a few books to read?" Chekhov asked.

"Go ahead." Qin didn't refuse, took out some basic magazines from her backpack, and then continued to immerse herself in her own world.

Actually, most of the content in the book was quite boring, but besides reading, Qin couldn't think of any other way to kill time.

"Do you know magic?" Chekhov suddenly asked.

Did this man have something he wanted to say to her? Qin slowly closed the book, her gaze blank as she met Chekhov's eyes. For a moment, Chekhov felt a chill run down his spine.

It felt like he was possessed by some evil spirit. Or rather, it felt like the person looking at him wasn't seeing him as a person at all, but rather as an object.

"No," Qin replied simply.

"Then... how could you be immune to your sister's magic... when your companion didn't take out a wand, and you didn't either," Chekhov said thoughtfully.

"Does the answer to this question matter?" Qin asked.

“It’s not important. I just really envy those who can do magic,” Chekhov said. “I’ve envied them since I was a child.”

Why envy?

"What are you saying? Don't you envy those who can use magic? Sometimes I have to admit, I'm even a little jealous of my sister. If I had her abilities, I would never have come back," Chekhov said, pursing his lips.

Chekhov talked about stories from his childhood.

When he was three years old, his father was burned alive because of this twisted country.

Before that, he had received theological education since childhood and truly believed in God, but his father's death had long since made him utterly disillusioned with Santiago.

He felt even more desperate about this fragile shrine kingdom woven from lies when he heard his mother speak of her magic that determined the direction of the coin.

When people are willing to believe it's true, any lie becomes the truth, no matter how absurd.

When he was eight years old, his sister was found to have remarkable magical potential. At that time, a traveling merchant who knew Carmen happened to see Atlan casting a spell and felt that such a child with high magical talent should not be buried in this yellow earth.

Driven by his love for talent, the merchant and Atlan's mother negotiated to take Atlan away from the kingdom.

A few days later, Carmen agreed, and Atlanta left San Diego. He stayed away for more than a decade until last year when Atlanta returned home.

When she returned to China, she became the Desert Witch.

Naming it after the desert seems to suggest that she is the master of this land of endless yellow sand.

“I was really scared then—if my sister never came back, I would become a prophet sooner or later, and I would become like my father,” Chekhov said. “From then on, I prayed all the time that one day I would suddenly master magic.”

“Then you should thank your sister for not being as selfish as you,” Qin said.

“You’re really direct. Yes, I am quite selfish. That’s why I’ve never understood why my sister came back. We’re clearly not compatible. It would have been better if this kingdom had just been destroyed.”

They are definitely not compatible.

One person voluntarily returned in order to perpetuate this flawed nation.

One man sees this hopeless kingdom and expects it to self-destruct.

"Is there anything else you want to say to me?" Qin asked.

“Did your sister ever tell you that once you become an apostle, you can’t leave Santiago?” Chekhov said. “After all, you are an apostle of God.”

"Will anything happen if we leave?"

“I guess my sister will be held accountable. Sigh, I really don’t know what she was thinking when she suddenly brought up the apostles,” Chekhov said. “She’s supposed to be a prophet, but she only has a superficial understanding of many dogmas.”

……

Just after Elena and Atlan made a "friendly" visit to the meteorite, the true owner of the house returned.

The former prophet, and also the mother of Atlantis—Carmen.

A few days ago, she went abroad to handle some caravan supply tasks—after all, this kingdom wasn't built on an oasis, and a large amount of supplies were transported by caravans.

Even though she is now retired, in many negotiations, people seem more willing to trust the old prophet's authority than the younger generation of Atlanta.

Especially among the elderly in China, some of them simply do not acknowledge the legitimacy of Carmen's "divine bestowal" of the prophet upon Atlantis.

After all, in the past, the birth of any prophet was always the succession of his relatives after the death of the old prophet.

This saying, "The soul returns to the heavens, and there are successors," is supported by dogma.

Atlantis's method of inheriting the prophet's legacy is truly unprecedented.

"Mother." Atlan bowed to his mother in the manner of the local custom.

Because Elena is an apostle of Atlantis, she also has to pay homage to her. This was mentioned when I chatted with Elena before, but Carmen hadn't returned then.

The somewhat weathered old woman sitting in the center of the old house is Carmen.

To be honest, she is only in her early fifties, but in terms of appearance, she looks almost the same as those who are in their seventies and look very old.

This is all due to working day and night.

"Get up." Carmen took small sips of water. "I heard from Moses that the apostles you've taken in are very devout."

Are you going to flip a coin again?

Irene couldn't even manage an awkward laugh.

No, you know this thing is unreliable, don't you?

“Mm.” Atlan nodded.

“Then will you, my apostle, remain in Santiago forever?” Carmen looked at Elena with insightful eyes. “I suppose so, dear Apostle Elena.”

Huh? Atlantis, you didn't tell me about this.

“Of course, Mother,” Atlan said.

"That's good." Carmen nodded and left with somewhat heavy steps.

By the time it was confirmed that Carmen had already gone far away...

Elena couldn't hold back any longer: "Atlan, you didn't mention this to me."

“Ahaha—I’m sorry, I should have told you about this,” Atlan said. “Actually, you were the first apostle I took in… Before that, I had only heard about apostles, but I didn’t know many of the specific details.”

“I think this explanation is a bit insufficient,” Elena chuckled.

“I think so too. But it was indeed my carelessness—I only discovered this restriction on apostles when I reread those complicated doctrines in the last few days,” Atlan said. “So, I won’t stop you from leaving. After all, you’re a witch, and apart from me, no one here should be able to stop you, right?”

Even if you try to stop me, without the restriction of the Two Elements Ball, you can't stop Qin and me.

but……

"And what about you?" Elena asked, dissatisfied.

"Haha—it's just a necessary price to pay."