"Um, do you regret it?"
"Huh?"
"Not leaving, I an."
"I never said I was going to leave—"
At Morris's words, Sigrid blinked, thinking, "Is that so?" It felt like her old mories and current ones were mixed up. Morris glanced at the sky for a mont, then looked back at Sigrid and said:
"I did think about it, but if I had, it would have just been running away. At least my current choice is one I faced head-on. The regrets and satisfaction are all mine. It's not your fault. In case you were thinking that."
"Well, if I blad that on myself, it would be more like my own arrogance."
To say your decision was because of my words.
"Still, Morris is kind, so I thought maybe..."
"I'm not kind."
At those words, Sigrid tossed out a "Oh, really?" as if joking and turned to look at him. Morris stopped abruptly. Sigrid, whose hand he was holding, also stopped.
"Morris...?"
Morris stood still in the darkness. Thanks to his black uniform, he looked like a person hidden in the shadows. The faint light from a distant streetlamp backlit him.
'Ah...'
Sigrid unconsciously thought about how Morris and Beramund could be so different, even though they both had black hair.
Beramund's bluish-black hair and Morris's deep amber-like black hair looked similar but were completely different.
"I'm not kind."
As she stared blankly, Morris enunciated each word again. Sigrid was flustered.
He's clearly kind, so why is he saying he's not?
"Okay."
But respecting her friend's opinion, Sigrid nodded. Only then did Morris smile slightly and start walking again.
When they reached the front of the mansion, Sigrid said with an apologetic face:
"Sorry for making you co all this way. Do you want to co in for a bit?"
"No, it's almost curfew. I'd better go quickly."
"Okay, take care, Morris."
Morris hesitated for a mont, then bent down and kissed her forehead. When Sigrid opened her eyes wide in surprise, he smiled gently and said:
"Sleep well, Sig."
"Oh, um... You too, Morris—"
As Sigrid placed her hand on her forehead and replied, Morris waved and left. Sigrid rubbed her forehead.
'I'm not a little child...'
Feeling the lingering tickle of his soft lips, she watched until Morris disappeared around the corner before entering the mansion.
????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
Beramund made a motion of rotating his shoulders and grumbled:
"The north is still the sa."
"It's cold, isn't it?"
Arkana nodded.
"It is. Isn't there any way you can use your magic to just 'poof' us near Rudinal?"
"That's impossible without information about the location."
"Damn it."
Beramund cursed and let out a long sigh.
'Shouldn't the first month out of three not count? Since I'm not even in the capital.'
He complained silently in his heart. Arkana glanced at him and said:
"But it should be around here."
At those words, Beramund's deanor changed instantly. He gripped his sword hilt, tensing every muscle in his body.
"How far away?"
His voice was low and taut. Arkana looked at him in surprise and said:
"Uh— I don't know exactly, but maybe within a radius of about a kiloter?"
"A kiloter..."
Beramund muttered, then sighed deeply, releasing his grip on the sword hilt.
"How do you know the location?"
"I brought this."
Arkana pulled out a small glass vial from his chest. Seeing the red liquid inside, Beramund narrowed his eyes.
"Don't tell
that's blood in there."
"It is blood."
Arkana said nonchalantly and softly chanted a spell. The blood inside swirled gently. Then, as if the vial had been tilted, it stood up and clung to one side of the wall.
"Should I be impressed or disgusted?"
Ignoring Beramund's words, Arkana said:
"This is His Highness the Crown Prince's blood. And the spell I cast makes it attracted to blood relatives. It reacts to those nearby. The closer they are, the more intense the reaction. So the direction we need to go is that way."
Arkana pointed, and Beramund said "I see," looking at the vial with a strange expression.
"So the hypothesis that they weren't full siblings was wrong!"
"As if there could be two with that sky-blue hair?"
"That was Her Majesty the Empress's distinctive feature."
"Can you say that in front of His Highness the Crown Prince?"
"If I need to live the rest of my life without teeth. But my teeth are precious to ."
Beramund said and turned his gaze in the direction Arkana had pointed.
"Alright, let's go then."
Beramund sighed and lowered his goggles. Taking a step, he clicked his tongue and said:
"Be careful, it's slippery from the lting snow."
"Oh? I thought you'd say 'Let the rival die.'"
At those words, Beramund turned to him with a "What—?" then looked ahead again and grumbled:
"Do I look like an idiot who can't separate public and private matters?"
"You don't look smart enough to separate public and private matters."
"You really— Siri doesn't know you're like this, does she?"
"Like what?"
"This twisted personality of yours."
At those words, Arkana laughed lightly and said:
"I'm not like this with Siri."
"Ah, of course not."
Beramund shrugged. Arkana continued:
"She's worth treating well."
"That's true."
Beramund's gaze swept over the hill, where patches of soil were starting to show through the lting snow. As he walked, he pulled out a map and compass from his chest.
"If I were Rudinal, I wouldn't travel alone. He's probably with so mage the Emperor assigned him. Since he thinks he's completed his mission, he'll be taking his ti— If we're heading in this direction..."
"Is it here?"
Arkana pointed to a nearby place na on the map.
"You know how to read maps?"
Beramund asked in surprise.
"Reading coordinates is part of magic studies."
"I see. So now can you just 'poof' us to this village if you know the location?"
"That's right."
Arkana didn't ntion that magicians' maps are different from the ones they use. Magicians' maps have x, y, and z coordinates. The map Beramund was looking at only had x and y.
'But I can just set an appropriate z coordinate and move a bit higher.'
There's also magic that allows hovering in the air, after all.
"But if I use teleportation magic, the number of spells I can use afterwards will decrease. It consus a lot of magical power."
"Got it. When we arrive, first point out who the mage is and shout 'That's him!'"
At those words, Arkana looked at his face, and Beramund grinned.
"I'll start by taking off that bastard's head first."
"...Don't you plan to capture him? Or do you enjoy seeing blood?"
"I don't know how to capture a mage. Do you? And if blood's going to be spilled anyway, I'd prefer it not to be mine."
Arkana hesitated for a mont, then nodded.
"Understood. If there's a mage, we'll do that. If not, I'll say so."
"Good."
Beramund nodded. Arkana sighed and grabbed his arm.
"We'll be moving through the air, so don't be surprised."
"What?"
The next mont, the surrounding scenery had changed with a whoosh. Though it was always amazing no matter how many tis he experienced it, Beramund almost scread when he realized he was floating in mid-air.
"...We're floating."
"Indeed we are. That village down there is our destination."
The rooftops looked like matchboxes dotting the landscape below. Arkana began descending rapidly, and they landed on a nearby rooftop. Only when his feet touched the roof did Beramund feel alive again. The roof was made of tree bark, so Beramund moved his feet carefully. What an embarrassnt it would be to slip and fall from here?
He knelt down to lower his body and asked:
"The mage?"
"Not here."
"Good. Wait here."
"Here?"
As Arkana looked around, standing on the roof, Beramund replied "Yes" before leaning over and sliding down the roof, landing lightly on the ground.
He drew his sword and began slowly exploring the village.
'Oh ho.'
Horses and a carriage.
There's no way a village like this would have such horses and a carriage. Beramund checked if anyone was nearby, then lightly jumped and stuck to the back of the carriage. He peeked inside; it was empty.
'The sun's high in the sky, but they're not departing. What's going on?'
Beramund slowly circled around the carriage, looking at the nearby house. In a village full of bark-roofed houses, this tile-roofed one stood out. Probably the ho of soone like the village chief.
'And the guards are sloppy.'
Beramund lowered his body and pressed flat against the wall of the house. True to northern architecture, the windows were small, but perhaps because it was spring, they were open, allowing sounds to carry clearly.
"We'll have to rest here for today."
"Wouldn't it be better to hurry to the castle?"
"No, his condition might worsen if we travel by carriage."
"The shock must have been quite severe?"
"To do it with my own hands and now talk about shock..."
A snorting sound was heard. Beramund thought for a mont.
'There are more of them than I expected.'
And the more there are, the harder it is to spare them. If it's hard to spare them, that ans they all have to die. Better to kill them all than let any escape.
'First, I'll enter through the door and—'
As he was thinking about taking out the guard, he noticed movent in the corner of his vision. Turning his head, he saw Arkana peeking around.
'What are you doing?!'
He mouthed silently, and Arkana lowered his body and scurried over, pressing against the wall.
"The roof was cold."
"What if you get caught?"
"The village seems empty. Either everyone's out working because it's dayti, or they've eliminated the witnesses."
At the cold tone, Beramund exhaled and said:
"Surely not the latter."
"Who knows, I'm not sure if those humans value ordinary people's lives any more than rabbits."
"To be honest, I think of them the sa way. I'm planning to go in and kill them all right now."
"By yourself?"
"Don't underestimate an Aura user."
"I've never underestimated you. Then how about I help a little?"
"Help?"
"I can blind them."
At those words, Beramund looked up for a mont, then gently gestured towards the window with his arm and said:
"Please do."
Arkana softly chanted a spell, and chaos erupted inside.
"What's going on!"
"It suddenly went dark!"
"What happened!"
In an instant, the inside was thrown into confusion. Beramund gestured for Arkana to wait here and entered the room. Arkana leaned against the wall and listened to the screams coming from inside. A mont later, Beramund poked his head out the window, lifting his blood-stained goggles, and said:
"Co in. If you won't vomit at the sll of blood."
Arkana said, "The sll of human and animal blood isn't that different," and stepped into the house. Corpses with dumbfounded expressions were scattered around. Beramund wiped his sword and entered the inner room.
"Who's there? What's going on? What happened? Is anyone there!"
On the bed, Rudinal was frantically reaching out and touching here and there, shouting with a bewildered face. His face was indeed flushed with fever, with shadows under his eyes, not looking well at all.
"How long until they can see again?"
At Beramund's question, Arkana said "They should be able to see soon," and Rudinal froze.
"Beramund?"
"My, should I be honored that you recognize my voice, Your Highness?"
Beramund said sarcastically. Rudinal blinked after a mont and stared blankly at Beramund.
"Beramund?"
"Yes, in the flesh."
"Th-that's impossible— You fell to your death—"
"I didn't die."
Beramund added, baring his teeth:
"Coincidentally."
"Good heavens, you're alive...!"
Rudinal's face brightened. At that expression, Beramund folded his arms.
"Surely you're not about to say sothing like you're glad I'm alive?"
"It, it was a mistake. Beramund, I really didn't think things would get this serious."
At Rudinal's words, Beramund's face hardened.
"You didn't know?"
Rudinal started rambling:
"I just, I wanted His Highness to be in a bit of trouble, I was jealous— You and His Highness seed too close..."
"So you cut the rope of the bridge I was crossing."
"Yes... I've regretted it ever since... But, but you're alive like this—"
Reviews
All reviews (0)