To the Magic Tower
Was it because every trace of Kashipa that had once lingered on this continent had vanished?
The blade-sharp wind that had carried a biting chill now held a gentle warmth. The vast snowfields that had stretched endlessly were mostly melted away, and beneath them green shoots were already pushing up through the earth.
Clop— clop— clop—
Nightmare’s hoofbeats spread slowly through the air.
Once again I had crossed a border and wandered aimlessly for days along a broad, well-kept road. A maintained road usually meant a city lay ahead where people gathered…
If I unrolled a map I could have known exactly what waited in front of me, but I was hoping for the small pleasure of an unexpected encounter, so I left the map tucked away.
How long had we walked? The moment we crested a low hill, a city ringed by massive walls came into view. A great river cutting straight through its center left a particularly strong impression.
“Halt!”
As I led Nightmare up to the city gate, spear points were leveled at us, just as expected. The guards’ sharp wariness was something I had long grown used to. I smiled lightly and spoke.
“Hello.”
My bright, lovely smile tended to leave a good impression regardless of gender. That was an unchanging truth. This guard would be no different.
Just as I predicted, the spear-wielding guard hesitated a moment, then stepped back.
“W-what’s your business? And that horse… is that even a horse?”
“It’s a Hairan breed—just a little bigger than most. And my purpose is simple sightseeing.”
As I answered I stroked Nightmare’s mane; the horse flicked its tail contentedly. That gentle appearance seemed to melt the guards’ remaining caution.
“Y-you may pass…”
“Thank you~”
Blue Weaver
Right in front of the main gate. That was the name written on the signboard. The peaceful look of the city dampened any special expectations, yet a strange sense of comfort drew a pleasant smile to my lips.
Clack— clack— clack—
Nightmare’s hooves rang out over the stone paving of the main street. The horse seemed delighted to feel solid stone underfoot after so long and began tapping out a peculiar little rhythm as it walked.
It was nearly lunchtime. I sniffed the air and tugged Nightmare’s reins onward.
Following the long thoroughfare brought us to the front of a large inn. The savory aroma that drifted out as if to lure me in told me the cook here was no amateur.
Judging by the crowd of customers, the place was carefully managed as well.
“W-welcome!”
Had I looked like a customer lingering at the entrance?
A girl in a clear sky-blue apron came running out to greet me. Her gaze flicked past Nightmare, landed on me, then hurriedly dropped away. My full plate armor must have looked fascinating to her.
“One room, and a stable for this one. Can you manage that?”
“Ah, yes!”
“And meals?”
“Of course!”
I beamed and flicked two gold coins toward the girl who was nodding so eagerly. I had imagined this scene now and then while reading countless fantasy novels—tossing money without even asking the price.
How cool was that? I must have looked like a free-spending veteran adventurer.
“Huk…! Guest! That’s a lot of money!”
The girl who had caught the two gold coins stared up at me with wide eyes. I laughed softly, hopped down from Nightmare’s back, and pressed the reins into her hand.
“Take good care of him.”
“Y-yes!”
Prrrrt—
The girl led Nightmare toward the stables. While I waited for her return I glanced around the inn’s interior and found more people than I had expected.
Lightly dressed travelers, adventurers still wearing their gear while finishing lunch, and even a bard with a lute in hand.
I watched the varied crowd for a short while until the girl who had taken Nightmare came hurrying back.
“Th-this way!”
She guided me to a small table tucked into a corner. It was wiped clean, clearly well cared for.
“J-just a moment, please! I’ll bring the room key and your food!”
After she vanished, the bard’s singing and the chatter of the people around me filled my ears in a white wash of sound.
I was resting my chin on my hand, letting time drift by, when—
“Really…! I told you this wasn’t the way!”
An irritated woman’s voice struck me as oddly familiar. As if spellbound, I turned my head toward the sound.
“…It seems the map was wrong.”
“What kind of person walks around with a two-hundred-year-old map? You’re going to need a luggage inspection later.”
A young woman was scolding an old man. Yet the old man wore a stubborn expression and refused to admit any fault.
“A luggage inspection…? There are things one simply does not say to one’s master.”
“Umm…”
The woman mumbled and shook her head as if this sort of thing happened all the time; the tip of the large witch’s hat she wore bobbed this way and that.
Why… why was Rain here?
I stared with trembling eyes at the mage I had parted from so long ago. The moment our gazes met I hurriedly turned my head away.
But that did not erase the fact that our eyes had locked. Just as I had recognized her, she seemed to have recognized me. A sharp stare burned into my back.
“No way…?”
Her voice carried a subtle note of expectation. I hunched my shoulders even tighter and kept ignoring her. Now that my relationship with the Magic Tower had grown so complicated, I might end up opposing her—just as I had with Leoniss, who had come looking for me.
I did not want to fight the benefactor who had helped me awaken my mana and take my first steps into magic. In a tiny voice I prayed.
Please just walk past me.
Scrape—
Step, step.
Rain clearly intended to confirm my identity no matter what. The sound of a chair being dragged was followed by small footsteps approaching me.
“Excuse me.”
My counterpart, Rain, was already certain who I was. There was no more room to keep looking away. I lifted my head with an awkward smile.
“Ah, aaaaah!”
“Hello…”
“Ceris!”
“It’s been a while, Miss Rain.”
Rain’s shout when she spotted me caused a small stir, lasting until the old mage she called her master stepped in.
In the end I found myself sharing a table with the two mages.
“You were looking for me…?”
Rain and the old mage both nodded at my question. Their answer made me picture Leoniss. Had they come for the same reason he had?
Yet unlike Leoniss, who had been high-handed from the first meeting, these two were kind to me. There was no sign they meant to drag me off to the Magic Tower by force.
“May I ask why?”
Suddenly I felt the old mage’s gaze. He looked at me with eyes that held a profound light. Inside his blue irises a strange geometric pattern was slowly rotating.
“Word reached me that someone has been going around impersonating a mage of the Magic Tower.”
At the old mage’s words I drew every muscle taut. My body loosened itself through repeated contraction and expansion; the circle seated in my heart spun, and my hand settled on the hilt of my sword.
Everything happened in a single natural instant.
“Calm yourself. I have not come to punish you for any crime.”
The old mage tried to soothe me in a steady voice. Even so, I could not easily let my guard down. After clashing once with the mage Leoniss whom the Tower had sent, I could no longer look kindly on any mage belonging to it.
Of course, I had been the one who first went around pretending to be a Tower mage.
“Ceris… was it?”
The old mage’s question. I nodded and answered.
“That’s right. And you?”
“Haven.”
“All right, Mister Haven. And Miss Rain. You’re saying you didn’t come here to seize me and haul me off like the other mages?”
Rain and Haven nodded without a word. I watched their faces carefully, then spoke again.
“Then why did you come looking for me?”
“To help you.”
“Help me…?”
“Did you not use the name of the Magic Tower without permission? Borrowing the Tower’s name without leave is a very serious crime. However, if you truly become a member of the Tower, that crime will vanish.”
“Even though the crime happened before I joined…?”
“Altering the date of entry is well within my authority.”
“And if I still refuse?”
“Hmm… that would not be a wise choice for you. If you decline, mages of the Tower will keep coming after you… Judging by your reaction, it seems you have already met one.”
I nodded silently at Haven’s words. Rain, sitting beside him, jumped in surprise and asked me,
“Y-you really met one? An Imperial-rank mage?”
“I did. He introduced himself as Leoniss…”
“Le-Leoniss…!”
Rain’s eyes flew wide at my answer. Haven also looked mildly startled. But Leoniss was not the important matter right now. I frowned and asked Haven,
“You’re not tricking me, are you? Once I follow you to the Tower you’ll suddenly change and try to jump me…”
“I swear it here and now. No such thing will ever happen.”
“Just with words…?”
In that instant blue mana surged from Haven’s body. Pure mana of immense density began to draw a strange magic circle in the empty air.
Blue lines traced a small circle, and inside it a peculiar geometric figure took shape. When the slowly rotating circle and figure came to a stop, a single promise was complete.
“Can you see this flow?”
I nodded blankly at Haven’s words. In that moment he had staked his own mana and made a vow to the world itself: if the words he had spoken were not kept, all of his mana would scatter.
The instant I agreed to follow him to the Magic Tower, that promise would take effect exactly as sworn.
“W-why? Why go this far for me…?”
“Does one need a reason to nurture a junior who may one day raise a new tower?”
“A new tower…?”
At that moment the strange pattern engraved in Haven’s eyes began to turn slowly. Suddenly I received the impression that his gaze resembled a dragon’s.