49. Witch (8)
Under a sky dyed with dawnlight,
Hyeijin Macaron, standing atop one of Arcanium’s towering high-rises, narrowed her eyes as she looked down over the nightscape.
This city was especially famous for its beautiful night view, because even after dark, the neon signs that never went out and the floating objects wandering through the sky like satellites continued to emit light.
Their official name, those things said to keep Arcanium endlessly illuminated so it would never grow dark, was “The Eyes of Paharagal,” though in truth they were nothing more than magic tools created to observe everything that happened in the city.
They watched the entire city twenty-four hours a day without a single moment of rest, but what meaning did that have?
They could not even detect a witch’s movements.
“Hm… Captain. Looks like something interesting happened.”
At Hyeijin’s words, Kaen narrowed his gaze. Stella’s Knights currently had the place under control, and the inspection division of Stella’s magic investigation unit had come out as well, temporarily sealing off part of the area while they investigated something.
Because of that, it was impossible for Hyeijin and Kaen to approach the place directly, but there was not really any need to.
They already knew what had happened there.
“They’re using a Compass of Memory? Something that expensive…”
The Compass of Memory was an extremely rare ancient artifact, one of only seven in the entire world, and it had the ability to revisit events of the past as though they were memories.
But it came with one glaring flaw.
The cost of using it was absurdly high.
Even using it once to revisit only the briefest instant cost an amount comparable to the monthly revenue of a decent-sized nation, so it was not the sort of thing anyone could casually use.
And yet the organizations that possessed one included Stella Academy, the Adolevit Kingdom, the Scarlven Empire, and the Full Moon Tower. Proud of their immense wealth, they acted as though such a penalty meant nothing at all, taking out the compass and using it whenever they pleased.
Of course, even from the perspective of the Crescent Moon Tower, which possessed two of the remaining three compasses currently considered missing, this was still quite…
“They’re throwing money straight onto the floor.”
A pathetic display, really.
“And they still got permission to use a Compass of Memory like that? That’s insane. Stella really is Stella, huh? Or maybe they’re just idiots.”
“Whatever else may be true, Stella’s principal is not a fool. If permission was granted, there must be a reason.”
“Eeh〜 They just look like idiots to me.”
Kaen argued back, but from Hyeijin’s perspective, the very idea of trying to trace a witch’s trail using a Compass of Memory already looked pathetic enough.
Still, the fact that Baek Yuseol was involved in that place made it worth continuing to watch, at least for now, so they did not leave.
While Stella’s magic investigation unit examined the scene, Baek Yuseol merely stepped back and watched from one pace behind, and it was impossible to tell what he was thinking or what schemes he was hiding.
“By the way, who killed the witch hunter? I really don’t think a witch would have done it…”
Long ago, when she was still young, Hyeijin had once seen a witch hunter with her own eyes. It had only been once, but she had directly felt that being’s overwhelming, terrifying power.
That was why she knew.
A witch hunter could never be killed by the power of an ordinary witch or mage.
Having abandoned their very existence in exchange for ferocious power, witch hunters stood at the absolute apex of the magical world’s food chain.
The fact that such a witch hunter had been discovered as a corpse…
…was an extremely interesting incident even from the Crescent Moon Tower’s perspective, so she had no intention of looking away.
More than anything else,
“Baek Yuseol… that brat looks like he has some idea about the witch, doesn’t he?”
While Stella’s Knights were frantically obsessed with tracking down the witch’s whereabouts, Baek Yuseol alone merely observed the scene from start to finish with an easygoing attitude.
It would be one thing if he were some ordinary student or magician, but this was Baek Yuseol. It was only natural to suspect there was something more going on.
“Would it be better to tail Baek Yuseol?”
Since she had come here to track down the witch, Hyeijin’s thought—that the most efficient route was to choose the most efficient target—could certainly be called correct.
“…Let’s watch a little longer.”
After saying that, Kaen leaped lightly down from the building and vanished somewhere below.
“Ugh… At least say something before you go, seriously.”
As a Knight-type, Kaen could move around like that freely, but Hyeijin was a pure magic-type Bishop, so if she wanted to get down from the building, she would have to go down the stairs step by step.
Her thighs had hurt so much from climbing all the way up here just to observe the crime scene. The thought of going back down again made her dizzy, but even so, the mere fact that the possibility of meeting the witch had opened up made the corners of Hyeijin’s lips twitch upward.
The next morning.
“Hey, hey. Did you hear? There was a murder at the Witch Restaurant last night.”
“I heard the owner died.”
“No, that’s not it. I heard some black-robed dark mage showed up, and one of the waitresses fought him to a standstill.”
“But someone really did die, right? Stella’s magic investigation unit has had the place locked down since last night.”
Eizel, who had arrived early to class, ended up hearing the strange rumors spreading among the students.
“Eizel! Did you hear? Did you hear?”
“Yes… more or less.”
“What do you think happened?”
Her friend Marilen said it in a great flutter.
“I heard a witch hunter from legend showed up.”
“A witch… hunter…?”
“Yeah, yeah. According to a witness, the mage who attacked the Witch Restaurant had an eerie ghost-like appearance with no limbs at all, and his eyes were glowing. They said he looked just like a witch hunter.”
“No way. There aren’t even any witches, so how could there be a witch hunter…”
“Right? But still, doesn’t it feel like there might be something to it? A legend is just a legend, sure, but you never know, right? There were even cases a few years ago where traces of a witch were supposedly seen for real.”
Eizel hesitated, then fell silent.
Marilen was probably right.
Witches probably did exist.
And by now… Baek Yuseol was probably actually chasing one.
“What in the world is happening…”
She had heard the rumors.
Yesterday, Baek Yuseol had gone out somewhere together with Stella’s Knights.
And the news that followed just happened to be about an incident at the Witch Restaurant.
There was no way she could not worry.
Then suddenly, she felt self-loathing.
What had I been doing last night?
Studying.
As always, studying.
While he had probably been rushing around trying to solve some incident connected to a witch, she had obsessively focused only on studying from beginning to end, knowing nothing.
How utterly pathetic.
That said…
…charging in recklessly, claiming she wanted to help, would also be foolish.
She knew nothing about what was happening, and even if she did, how exactly was she supposed to deal with a witch?
Ding-dong-dang!
After class ended, she walked weakly toward Class S.
On the way, she happened to hear, “Did you hear? Baek Yuseol didn’t show up for class today,” and her mood sank even lower.
“Ah, enough, asshole. Get lost already.”
As Eizel walked down the hallway, she turned her head at the sound of a familiar voice. A few students glanced that way, then hurried past while pretending not to have seen anything.
“Miss Flame…?”
And beside her stood the beautiful blond-haired boy, Crown Prince Jeremy Scarlven.
“Ah, well… sorry. I was inconsiderate.”
Jeremy smiled awkwardly and apologized to Flame, but her anger did not seem to have faded at all. She was grinding her teeth hard enough to be audible.
“Who the hell gave you permission to put me down as a participant? God, this is so annoying. Now I’ve got to deal with the whole cancellation process again.”
“Well… I heard you’d been pretty interested in the League of Spirits lately…”
“So because of that, you shoved me into a first-come, first-served tournament as some kind of parachute pick? Pushing out the people who actually wanted to compete?”
“It’s not like that, I—”
“And I said I enjoy watching the matches. When did I ever say I wanted to run around in the arena myself, you brain-dead idiot?”
The more Eizel listened, the more obvious it was that Flame had every right to be angry. If you were peacefully taking a nap at home and then woke up the next day to discover you had somehow become a tournament participant, anyone would be furious.
“Ugh… how am I even supposed to cancel this now?”
Eizel pretended not to notice them and quietly tried to pass by.
She had no desire to get caught in the middle of an argument with Jeremy.
Emperor Jeremy Scarlven…
…despite his kind-looking appearance, there was something deeply unsettling about him.
“…Besides, registration’s probably already closed by now, so it won’t even be cancellable.”
A sudden pang of concern struck her, but she thought that if it was Flame, she would somehow figure something out. So Eizel tried to slip by unnoticed—only for Flame to spot her at that exact moment, wave exaggeratedly, and greet her.
“Oh, Eizel! Perfect. I was just looking for you. Come with me for a bit!”
“Y-Yes? Me?”
Flame rushed over to Eizel, threw an arm around her shoulders, and immediately started walking quickly.
“Hey, hey, I don’t want to keep bickering with that bastard, so hurry up.”
“Ah, okay…!”
When she glanced back, Jeremy was standing there with one hand half outstretched, staring at them with a wistful expression. It was the sort of look that made your chest ache, like he was gazing at some tragic heroine, but Flame did not seem to care in the slightest.
Only after they had put quite a bit of distance between themselves and him did the two finally stop and catch their breath.
“Whew. Seriously, he clings like a leech.”
“What exactly happened…?”
“Well, same as always. Something infuriating.”
She did not look particularly eager to explain. It seemed she did not want to relive whatever annoying thing had happened.
Clunk!
After getting herself an ion drink from a nearby vending machine, Flame cracked open the can with a crisp snap, gulped it down in one go, and then casually flicked it into the trash can in a perfect shot.
Then she dropped onto a nearby bench and patted the empty space beside her.
“What are you doing? Busy? Do you have another class?”
“No… I’ve got about forty minutes.”
“Then sit for a bit. I’ve got a dilemma these days.”
“A dilemma…?”
Even someone with as refreshingly straightforward a personality as Flame had worries she kept bottled up inside? Eizel found that surprisingly fascinating, so she carefully sat down beside her. Then Flame spoke with a grave expression.
“I’m trying to decide whether to have cheese tonkatsu for lunch or rosé tonkatsu.”
“This is actually a pretty serious problem. If I order the rosé one and it turns out bad, then I’ve wasted money and ruined my appetite. But if I order the cheese tonkatsu I always eat, that won’t happen, but then it’s the same old taste and there’s no freshness to it. This is totally high risk, high return.”
Was that really the right situation to use the phrase high risk, high return?
“Maybe… you could try the rosé tonkatsu for a change?”
“No. Now that I think about it again, I don’t think so.”
“…Then have the cheese tonkatsu.”
“I’m sick of that one. I’ll just have the tenderloin tonkatsu.”
What exactly was she supposed to say to that?
“See, I don’t eat this one all the time, so it’s fresh, and the taste is guaranteed too. Wow, I was kind of super logical just now.”
“…”
At a loss, Eizel finally burst out laughing, and Flame’s expression instantly hardened.
“I’m serious.”
“I’m sure you are…”
“Then shall we go?”
“Huh? Go where?”
“We decided, didn’t we? We’re going to go eat tonkatsu.”
“It’s still morning right now…?”
“So what? We can have brunch.”
“Ah…”
“For the record, that means breakfast plus lunch.”
“I know.”
Eizel let out a helpless little laugh and nodded.
Come to think of it, she had not properly eaten breakfast, and more than that, after getting swept up in listening to Flame talk, it felt as though some strange knot inside her chest had quietly loosened.
10:18 a.m.
At an hour that was too late for breakfast and even more awkward for lunch, Eizel found herself sitting in the school cafeteria with an unexpected plate of tenderloin tonkatsu in front of her, knife in hand. How long had it been since she had last cut meat with a knife?
As she neatly pinned the cutlet in place with a fork and began slicing it with formal precision, Flame, sitting across from her, stabbed her tonkatsu with a fork, split it in half, and bit into it whole.
Rather than pouring the sauce over it, she dipped each piece into it as though that was the only correct way to eat tonkatsu, and while cheerfully devouring it, she suddenly spoke.
“Want to go out tonight?”
“Huh?”
“I mean Arcanium.”
“Ah… you mean you want to go out?”
Was she asking her to go get dinner or something?
That was what Eizel first thought, but Flame seemed to have something else in mind.
“Yeah. I’m curious what Baek Yuseol’s up to, and my body’s been itching.”
“…Are you planning to help Mr. Baek Yuseol?”
“Would that be what it turns into? Mm, yeah〜 I guess you could say that.”
“But the opponent is a witch. There’s nothing we can do…”
She had to think realistically.
No matter how much the world praised them as genius magicians, the world on the other side was a completely different one.
With their still immature abilities, it was obvious they would only get in the way rather than help.
“You think I’m crazy enough to go pick a fight with a witch head-on?”
“Then what exactly are you trying to do…?”
Flame parted her lips as if to answer, then stopped and closed her mouth.
As far as she knew, the Crescent Moon Tower’s Myeolamdan had surely arrived in Arcanium by now.
She intended to use them, but obviously she could not simply blurt out everything that was in her head.
“I can’t tell you right now, but it’ll definitely help. I’m sure of it.”
Eizel looked steadily into Flame’s eyes.
They were completely different from the playful eyes she had shown earlier.
Eizel still had no clear idea what Flame was plotting, or whether she really could do anything at all…
…but for now, she decided to trust her.
They had already come to share quite a few secrets.
They were very close now.
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