Chapter 154. Is This Loneliness in the Crowd?
After deciding to head to Brando.
Before I knew it, a week had passed.
“You primitive thing, can you not hurry up already?”
At Shine’s prodding, I leisurely stepped out of my room.
For the record, “primitive thing” was the name Shine started calling me after we came out of the Sword God’s Tomb.
“The weakest one is the latest. And you’re even being leisurely on top of that. Do you have no shame?”
I stood there, staring straight at Shine as he guarded the door and made a fuss.
‘What is wrong with this bastard?’
After the Sword God’s Tomb, Shine’s arrogance didn’t just pierce the sky—it blew straight through it.
Every single day without fail, he’d come looking for me just to pick a fight, and I could only find it baffling.
‘What on earth did he bring out of the Sword God’s Tomb?’
He’d already been arrogant, and now he’d gotten even more arrogant.
No—was it just arrogance?
He was like a goblin running wild, not knowing the sky.
The source of that confidence was clearly whatever arrangement the 13th Head of House had left for him in the Sword God’s Tomb, but…
‘……Tsk, and he just won’t open his mouth about it.’
“Hmm. I truly dislike that look in your eyes. Can you not open your eyes properly?”
“……Sure.”
I left Shine—who was picking a pointless fight—behind and started walking.
“Scared?”
There was a moment of danger, but I didn’t bite.
Why, there’s that saying: leave while they’re still clapping.
There was no need to confront an overconfident Shine and prove my strength. My strength was already proven by my track record so far.
Anyway, when I arrived at the entrance of Sogeomjeon with that noisy guy in tow, I met the people who’d come first.
Parun, who looked exhausted to the point it showed on his face, the Young Head of House with a refreshingly bright smile in contrast, and Sir Zeke.
The Young Head of House and Sir Zeke were there to see us off as we left Lortel.
“Are you all prepared?”
“More or less.”
“Why not stay a bit longer before you go?”
“I wanted to, but it’s too bothersome.”
“Ha ha.”
The Young Head of House laughed awkwardly.
Yeah, of course he would.
‘Just how much did you bother me?’
Ah, for the record, I wasn’t saying the Young Head of House had directly bothered me.
More like indirectly.
When I told him I’d be leaving Lortel, starting that day, he introduced me to various people within his influence.
The intent was something I was genuinely grateful for.
‘It’s not often you get a chance to form ties with Lortel’s people.’
Well, I’ve got the Platinum Token, so whether I form ties or not, it’s not like I’ll gain or lose something huge—but it’s a difference in influence, I guess?
In the end, an ally who’s at least sat face-to-face and talked with you feels warmer than an ally holding nothing but a Platinum Token.
But kindness has to be moderate, too.
Endless social gatherings with not even room to breathe were nothing but uncomfortable.
“Still, as exhausting as it is, a day will come when it helps you. You may not recall their faces, but they will remember you.”
I gave a small snort at the Young Head of House’s embarrassed expression.
“I wasn’t saying it was unpleasant. I’m grateful, really.”
“Then that’s a relief. In that case, would it be fine to stay a little longer before leaving? Soon, figures from the vassal houses will gather at the family as well. Then, slowly getting acquainted with them too—”
“Is this a new kind of harassment?”
“Ha ha, your jokes…”
Unfortunately, it wasn’t a joke.
The past week really had been hell for me.
Anyway.
I looked away from the Young Head of House and turned my eyes to Parun.
“Are you sure it’s fine to leave like this? You could stay a bit longer if you want.”
“I’ve grasped the basics of the Infinite Chain. And….”
[……If I stay here, how do you expect me to find the Thousand Origin Art paper? Try thinking for once.]
[If you tell me where it’s hidden—]
[As if I’d trust you.]
At Parun’s bluntness, I curled the corner of my mouth.
‘A trusted axe chops your foot, but an axe you don’t trust splits your head.’
If the day comes when I crack open Parun’s secret storeroom, that’ll be entirely Parun’s fault. Because he didn’t trust me.
Anyway, I left Parun behind and threw a look at Shine.
“You primitive thing, why are you staring like that?”
“Are you really not staying here?”
“Are you afraid of me?”
“No, these last few days you’ve looked happy.”
“Not funny.”
Not funny, my ass.
Out of the three of us, Shine was the one who enjoyed life in Lortel the most.
The rumor that we’d passed through the Sword God’s Tomb spread across all of Lortel in less than a day.
And then this rumor started going around, too.
The master of the Sword Garden is a knight acknowledged by the Head of House.
It seemed like a rumor the Head of House deliberately spread to put weight behind Shine, and thanks to that, Shine had a pretty happy time.
Knights coming to him even if he did nothing.
Countless requests for sparring.
Some even offered famous swords as gifts, saying they wanted to build camaraderie!
‘No, thinking about it like this makes me feel kind of bitter?’
While I was forced to sit face-to-face with boring people, sipping tea that tasted like absolute trash, someone else had punching-bag scarecrows rolling in on their own—and gifts piled up in their arms.
If I were a knight instead of a mage, would there have been this kind of discrimination?
‘There wouldn’t have been.’
It was unfair. It was miserable.
Those filthy knight bastards.
As I mulled over my resentment, the Young Head of House’s voice rang in my ear.
“By the way—do you know about the ‘Fairies’ Dance’?”
“Fairies’ Dance?”
“It’s that phenomenon that occurs in the Amera region. Have you heard of the Amera region?”
I wasn’t asking because I didn’t know what the Amera region was.
The Amera region, with its dozens of large and small lakes, was where ‘Moonlight Stone’—one of the magic materials—was mined. If you were a mage, it was a place you couldn’t not know.
But.
“Fairies’ Dance? Never heard of it.”
“Do you not know the fairy legend? It’s a legend passed down in the Amera region, and it’s quite famous even as a fairy tale. You know—how the fairies, exhausted by humans’ tyranny, went into the lake and ended their lives…”
If it’s a fairy tale, it makes sense I wouldn’t know.
I grew up as a Black and White Zone vagrant; the only stories I heard as a child were about monsters that dragged away vagrants living in the Seil River’s sewage water.
Anyway, that wasn’t the important part.
“Ah. Information just came into the main house today. They say an anomaly occurred in one of the lakes in the Amera region. I thought it might be the kind of news mages would find interesting.”
So he brought it up because it seemed like something we might be curious about.
But if Parun was right, am I really not a mage? An anomaly or whatever—my interest didn’t even twitch.
But that was when Parun, who’d been standing silently, stepped forward.
“Young Head of House, could that anomaly be…?”
“They say it’s a mana (Mana) supersaturation phenomenon. Locals call it ‘Fairies’ Dance,’ apparently?”
“May I hear the details?”
“You’re interested?”
“Yes. I’d appreciate it.”
I tilted my head at Parun’s unusually proactive attitude.
[What’s Fairies’ Dance?]
[……You don’t know?]
I don’t.
I’ve heard plenty about the lakes in the Amera region, but “Fairies’ Dance” and “mana supersaturation phenomenon” are things I’ve never heard in my life.
What is it that Parun is acting that enthusiastic?
[It’s one of the phenomena that appear only irregularly in the Amera region’s lakes. It occurs unpredictably in one of the dozens of lakes. I’ll explain the details later.]
With that, Parun turned his gaze away from me.
That was when the Young Head of House pulled out a thick set of documents from his chest and handed it over.
“I’m glad I had them bring it just in case. It’s information gathered by the main house’s informants. Take it with you and look through it at your leisure.”
“……Thank you for your kindness.”
“If you’re interested, it would be best to hurry. If the main house noticed, there’s no way other famous magic houses didn’t. If you’re careless, you might get pushed out by the crowd.”
Parun handled the documents as carefully as if they were treasure, then stored them away in Subspace.
I stared at that scene blankly for a moment, then cautiously opened my mouth.
“Then, I guess we should get going soon…”
“Mm. Go ahead.”
“……?”
“……?”
I tilted my head at the Young Head of House’s brisk attitude. The Young Head of House tilted his head at my blank stare.
“Did you forget something?”
“Didn’t I give you the Platinum Token?”
“I got that.”
I received the Platinum Token a few days ago.
Magic Tower and Sword Garden.
Two tokens engraved with the names of those two ghost groups.
“And I also gave you a communication crystal orb so you can contact directly.”
“I don’t really need it, but I did take it.”
“Then what else do you need? Ah—do you need travel funds?”
“…….”
I looked at the Young Head of House for a moment, then held my hand out slightly. I had more than enough travel money, but they say you don’t ignore sincerity.
“……You’re frugal.”
Anyway, after taking the few gold coins the Young Head of House handed me, I finally brought up my real point.
“Why aren’t you giving me the Infinite Chain?”
Yeah. I was talking about the Infinite Chain.
More important than the Platinum Token, more important than the communication crystal orb, and more important than a bit of travel money—that thing!
The object of love and hate that was both the beginning of why we came to Lortel, and the thing that would cap it all off.
But why?
“……? You didn’t receive it?”
The Young Head of House tilted his head.
I narrowed my eyes.
“What is this? A test of my patience? Or a backstab?”
That was when Parun—who’d stepped back—moved forward again.
“I received it.”
“……You did?”
“Yes. I received it safely yesterday. I confirmed it’s genuine, too, and right now it’s sleeping peacefully in my Subspace.”
“Why do you have it…?”
“Why would I?”
“…….”
At Parun’s firm tone, I lost my words for a moment.
It was the moment I started feeling disillusioned with the profession called “mage.”
Knights push and pull each other, helping, propping up, making a whole fuss and a whole song and dance—so why are mages, without exception, so cold?
Anyway, as I stood there in shock—
“Young Head of House, Sir Zeke. We’ll be taking our leave now.”
“Be well. I’ll be going now.”
Shine and Parun traded crisp farewells.
The Young Head of House and Sir Zeke also exchanged friendly goodbyes with them.
Among these five, the only one who couldn’t blend in was me.
This sorrow of belonging neither to mages nor to knights. Then where, exactly, are my roots?
“Let’s go, you primitive thing.”
Shine grabbed the back of my neck and dragged me out of Sogeomjeon.
I let him drag me without a word and looked up at the sky.
I chose midnight because I wanted to slip out as quietly as possible, but the bright, full moon was so dazzling it hurt my eyes.
‘Is this loneliness in the middle of a crowd.’
Life tasted bitter.
When Aster’s party left Sogeomjeon like that—
Sion quietly watched their backs.
“You look like you’re enjoying yourself.”
“Do I?”
“Yes. And…”
Zeke started to say something, then pressed his lips shut.
But Sion smiled lightly, as if he already knew what Zeke had meant to say.
“Surprised? At the way I treat a mage so comfortably.”
“Yes. Honestly, I was. I wondered if you’d had a change of heart…”
“A change of heart.”
Trailing off, Sion turned his gaze elsewhere. At the end of that gaze was Aster, being dragged along.
“Isn’t he trivial?”
Zeke gave Aster a quick glance, then answered.
“……Honestly, he is trivial.”
“That kind of man stood against One Sword? No—he even threw himself down before Father, telling him to cut his belly open? Do you believe it?”
“If I hadn’t seen him myself, I wouldn’t have believed it.”
“Yes. That’s how it is. I, too, if I hadn’t experienced the owner of the Tower, wouldn’t have been able to believe any of it.”
But those who had faced the owner of the Tower had no choice but to believe. There was something oddly mysterious about him.
“I just found myself thinking this.”
“What kind of…?”
“Ah—so there are mages that trivial, too. Not all mages are vicious and snake-like like Deculan.”
“…….”
“A fact I only understood with my head—at some point, it started to feel real on my skin.”
Zeke, inwardly, agreed.
It seemed wrong to put the owner of the Tower and Deculan into the same category called “mages.” One side had to be the mistaken one.
“That’s all it is. Do you understand?”
“……Yes.”
It was the moment the Young Head of House cracked open the shell he’d been trapped inside for so long… but Zeke couldn’t relax and rejoice.
Because the trigger was far too trivial.
After a brief silence, Zeke asked another question.
“Do you happen to know when One Sword is returning?”
“……? I haven’t heard. They did say the schedule might run longer than expected. Why?”
“It’s nothing. I thought there might be something to discuss, but it isn’t that urgent.”
“……?”
Zeke recalled Hamelan’s complaint from a few days ago.
- A plague has swept through Lortel. The day will come when you understand what I mean.
After saying that, he left for Baidun.
Only now did it feel like Zeke could understand that meaning, at least a little.
When he reached that thought—
Zeke voiced a question that suddenly came to him.
“By the way—why did you hand them information about Amera Lake…?”
Thinking of how the Young Head of House usually was, it was hard to understand.
The Young Head of House had no interest whatsoever in magical phenomena.
But the Young Head of House’s answer was rather strange.
“Good question.”
“……Pardon?”
“I don’t know, either. I merely did as Father commanded.”
“Then you mean it was the Head of House’s command?”
Sion calmly nodded.
After that, he didn’t open his mouth again.
He only pictured Head of House Muhad in his mind—the one who’d told him to pass along the information.
- If they’re mages, they’ll certainly take interest.
‘He said it like that, but….’
That look in his eyes had been subtly wavering.
As if expecting something.
