"Welco to Orphen!"
Simon had suffered from seasickness for days, but as the kingdom ca into view, he began to perk up.
"Bianca—no, Anne will definitely like it too!"
It was nice to see him like that, but now that he'd returned to his usual self, his expression was annoying again.
Lily, who was unloading luggage from the ship, quietly scolded him.
"Simon, we're not here on a vacation."
At the Tower, he would’ve gotten sulky right away, but Simon answered triumphantly.
"Don't worry. I know that very well!"
Fortunately, Lily seed to like his livelier deanor.
"Once tomorrow's schedule is over, you'll have so ti left. Go see your family then."
"Sure. Don’t just stand there—help carry this luggage!"
As I shouted while barely holding up my trembling legs, Simon quickly rushed over with an embarrassed face.
"S-Sorry."
Still, it wasn’t such a bad thing to see him so excited.
It wasn’t like I couldn’t understand how he felt.
"Has it been a while since you’ve been to Orphen?"
"Yeah. It's been nearly three years."
"That’s longer than I thought...? Wait, how old were you when you ca to the Empire then?"
Considering his age, it must’ve been when he was a kid.
"I first went to Carpea when I was eleven. I went with my family on a trip, but I got enchanted by magic then."
"……."
"My family was against it, but I’m the kind of person who can’t hold back when I want sothing. I just knocked on the Tower’s door without thinking."
Simon smiled sheepishly. Lily, who had been listening in, quietly added,
"Since Lord Peril wasn’t there, we couldn’t accept disciples, so he was turned away. But he loitered around the Tower for days."
"I-I had no choice back then! I had spent all my money and couldn’t even afford to go back to the kingdom..."
"Oh."
He's more persistent than I thought?
Simon muttered lowly as if he felt wronged.
"Besides, there was sothing I really wanted to know back then."
"What was it?"
At my question, Simon acted cocky.
“It’s a secret.”
"……."
“Sothing you’ll never understand.”
Ugh, I really shouldn’t have brought him.
"Alright, let’s cut the chit-chat here."
At that mont, Lily stepped in to take control of the situation.
"We have to arrive at the capital before the day ends. Let’s hang in there a little longer."
Seeing the boxes piled up high on the deck made sigh.
Even more so when I saw Peril casually surveying the area with a relaxed face!
Unable to stand it any longer, I said sothing to him.
"You seem really free right now."
"The captain doesn’t do anything, you know."
"You're not Peril right now, you’re Thomas."
"Sa difference."
A leisurely arc ford on Peril's lips.
Glaring at him with a sulky face, I finally brought up a topic that had been puzzling for a while.
"Why are you wearing the ring?"
Peril didn’t need a disguise ring like I did in the first place.
Of course, that’s because this man, the Tower Master, changed his appearance as easily as eating.
"As a courtesy?"
"Orphen has so really unique customs, huh."
"Sothing like that."
I said it to sting him, but unlike what I’d hoped, he didn’t seem fazed at all. I stared at him with cold eyes, then turned my gaze to the ships docked at the port.
The flags of the Carpea Empire fluttered from the ships.
‘...Did a delegation co because of the terror attack at the Imperial Palace?’
I just hoped the person on that ship wasn’t Erkishian.
As I was thinking such silly thoughts, Peril grabbed my chin and turned it toward him.
"You need to hurry and move the luggage."
"...You're an."
"Do you think we have ti to slack off?"
Peril gave a push on the back as if to say, get to work already.
* * *
This mission made realize one thing.
For a mage, the most important thing wasn’t mana.
The answer was stamina, damn stamina!
I was worried whether we’d make it to the palace before sunset, but thankfully, we arrived just in ti.
"Lord Marcol, it's been a while. Thank you for welcoming us so warmly."
Due to Peril’s non-present presence, Lily stepped forward as the representative of the Tower.
She greeted a middle-aged man with a kind impression. He welcod us with a warm smile.
"No need to thank . We're grateful just to have mages visit us."
I’d expected so tension due to the magic war, but it was unexpectedly cordial. Even saying Marcol was just a special case didn’t explain it, since the people around him weren’t reacting badly either.
Peril, who stood next to , imdiately sensed my doubts and whispered in a voice only I could hear.
"Orphen loves magic."
"Oh, really?"
"Thanks to that, they get along well with the Tower."
Well, the Tower was the only place currently dealing in magical tools.
That was also why they targeted Drimokan—for the convenience of magic.
‘I get now why Eileens wanted Orphen to win the war…’
"You must be exhausted from the trip, so please rest well tonight. We’ve also prepared a al, so co inside."
At Marcol’s words, cheers erupted from all around.
"It’s been a while since we’ve had a drink with Lord Marcol."
"Good thing we brought the alcohol."
Hearing Lily and Marcol's conversation, Simon began stamping his feet as if he wanted to leave as soon as possible. Sensing that, Lily spoke in a light tone.
"Simon, you have to be back by 10 a.m. tomorrow, alright?"
"Yes, yes! Thank you, Lady Lily!"
Then Simon turned to and said goodbye.
"Anne, see you tomorrow."
"Be careful on your way."
Without even hearing my last words, he left.
He really seems happy.
"Shall we go too?"
At that mont, Peril casually suggested, and I quietly nodded.
After sneaking out with him, I brought up sothing I’d been curious about for a while.
"You ntioned that eccentric person before."
"Yeah."
"How did that person find out there’s another world?"
A normal person wouldn’t have noticed sothing like that.
Even I had only thought I was possessed into a fictional novel.
"That was a hypothesis. It started with a simple curiosity—there’s no way we’re the only ones living in infinite tilines."
"……."
"But your existence proved that hypothesis."
"……I thought I explained it rather briefly, but you understood it exactly."
Honestly, I thought Peril would ask more detailed questions.
"I’m smarter than I look."
"Well, I can’t deny that."
As I was talking with Peril, I squinted at soone in front of us.
"Huh, Simon?"
"…Bianca?"
Simon also looked surprised, his eyes wide.
"Why are you back?"
At my question, Simon looked troubled.
"Well… the shortcut was blocked. If I take the detour, I won’t make it back by tomorrow morning, so I decided to postpone eting my family."
Oh dear.
His joy from earlier was still fresh in my mory.
Just as I began to feel sympathy for him, Peril spoke in a chilling voice.
"That’s not the way to the village."
"……!"
"And there’s no way the shortcut to the village is blocked either."
Simon’s eyes wavered like a lost child.
"Are you lying to ?"
The atmosphere froze instantly. Simon flinched and shook his head quickly.
"L-Lying? No! It’s true I was going to see my family, but I wasn’t heading to the village."
"……."
"I an, it’s the magic-restricted zone."
Magic-restricted zone?
Peril’s eyes narrowed, seemingly surprised by his words.
"Don’t tell —that’s your hotown?"
"Yes."
Apparently, it wasn’t a common thing. Peril tapped his arm lightly with his fingers, lost in thought.
"So the shortcut was blocked..."
Could it be that we were also headed there?
"People said there was an incident involving outsiders a few months ago, so security has gotten tight."
Peril let out a short sigh. Simon added in a slightly tearful voice.
"I’m worried about my family and want to go as soon as possible… but unfortunately, the only way into the restricted zone is a carriage that runs once every two weeks."
“You can’t use magic there?”
Simon answered instead,
"It’s the most sealed-off area in the kingdom. Any magic used there just disperses, and without a special pass, you can’t even enter."
No wonder it seed strange that Peril wasn’t teleporting.
"When does the carriage arrive?"
"In two days."
Listening to their conversation, I casually chid in.
"Then we have no choice. The schedule will be over by then anyway, so let’s go at that ti."
Simon tilted his head.
"But why are you going, Anne?"
“I have my reasons.”
"……."
“Sothing you’ll never understand.”
At my words, Simon quietly closed his mouth, seemingly out of things to say.
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