Kidnapping
"Bianca, that fucking bitch...!" Serena snarled in fury as she stomped the residents of the Ark into the ground.
They had once been human, but now they were fused with the Ark itself—half-immortal existences lingering on the boundary between living and non-living. Their human egos had been erased, leaving them as soldiers who obeyed only the Ark's commands. Fearless of wounds or death, they attacked in overwhelming waves, making them rather troublesome opponents.
"Hah, I'm pissed off, but this is perfect."
"·····."
Still, mere difficulty wasn't enough to threaten the two of them. The women here only wore human shapes; they had already ascended to an entirely different plane of existence.
The moment their movement spell ended and the attack came, they counterattacked instantly, annihilating every last resident of the Ark.
Crunch—
Even the famous prophets of antiquity could never have predicted that someone would arrive here and smash the place to pieces before the coming of destruction.
Serena, who had been taking out her anger on the fallen residents for some time, finally collected herself and asked Philia.
"Philia sis. What are we going to do now? You're not seriously thinking of leaving that Bianca bitch alone, are you?"
"...What else? We have to get Ian back, of course."
"Do you even know where he is?"
The continent was far vaster than they could imagine. How were they supposed to find Ian?
Philia stroked the corner of her mouth and let out a cold smile.
"Just in case, I placed a location-tracking spell on Ian. As long as he hasn't left the Western Continent, I can definitely find his position."
The tracking range, proportional to her overwhelming mana, surpassed all imagination. Of course, if Ian had somehow reached the Eastern Continent, the story would be different.
Bianca would never go all the way to the Eastern Continent.
Recalling Bianca's crippling lack of social skills, Serena immediately accepted the logic. But watching Philia bask in her own thoroughness, she felt a slight chill.
Philia sis is pretty damn crazy too...
Just when had she cast a tracking spell on him? Even during the conversation right before the teleport, Serena had sensed it—Philia was undeniably a madwoman.
If she likes Brother Ian that much, why the hell did she keep him as a servant all this time...?
This was the one thing Serena could neither understand nor forgive.
And then another question suddenly occurred to her.
"Philia sis. What if Bianca tampered with the tracking magic too?"
Since even the teleportation spell had been rendered useless, it was possible she'd pulled some trick on the tracking magic as well.
"It's fine. That spell can't be interfered with."
Philia's tracking magic had transcended ordinary spells, merging with her own authority to form something new.
Pollen of Fate.
Like a flower's pistil and stamen meeting naturally. It was a custom-made spell crafted solely for Ian.
"Of course, Bianca probably prepared all sorts of defenses against magic, but... it doesn't matter."
"Huh...?"
When Serena looked puzzled, Philia curled one corner of her mouth upward and smiled brightly.
"In the end, I just have to erase every single place where Bianca could possibly be hiding, right?"
If she eliminated them one by one, she would surely find Ian.
...Crazy bitch.
As Serena stared at her in horror, Philia was thinking:
Bianca. You acted so pure and innocent all that time... was it all for this very moment?
Philia recalled the days she had spent with Bianca in her previous life.
Th-that's not how you do magic... Why can't I do this...?
Her behavior was far from sane. Despite her inborn talent, her self-esteem had been pathetically low, and she had always spoken with a severe stutter.
...It's highly likely she was acting.
After all, there was no way a great archmage would speak in such a trembling, half-witted voice. It must have been a ploy to lower her guard.
One of the continent's Ten Forbidden Lands.
A place where all kinds of monsters and anomalies mingled together.
In the Forest of Nightmares, a girl wearing a robe was waiting for someone.
From afar came the irregular cries of beasts, and the atmosphere was utterly desolate, yet strangely, the area around her was so quiet that not a single sound could be heard.
"Hehe, hehehe..."
The woman hugged herself as if enjoying a pleasant daydream, savoring her happiness.
"F-finally... I get to meet Ian...!"
Bianca Erhagen. The youngest archmage, known as the Reclusive Sage, had been counting the seconds until his arrival.
Flash—
Not long after, Ian was summoned in a brilliant burst of light.
...Where the hell am I this time?
"I-Ian!"
The instant he appeared, Bianca rushed toward him with obvious delight.
"Who...?"
Seeing the girl suddenly charging at him, Ian instinctively dodged.
It was only natural when a stranger came running at you.
Thud—
Bianca, who was hopelessly clumsy except when it came to magic, naturally face-planted into the ground.
It was a truly shocking first meeting.
"Uuu... uuu..."
Leaving the girl clutching her head in pain, I surveyed my surroundings.
Where the hell is this...?
It was a dense forest. The place was unnaturally dark—as if it were the middle of the night—but...
It was definitely daytime just a moment ago. This is clearly not a normal location.
An ominous forest that looked like something could jump out at any second. I had no idea how I'd ended up here.
Just before, Philia had finished her conversation with Serena and activated some kind of spell. I hadn't heard any explanation, so I didn't know what it was, but my instincts hadn't triggered and I judged that they wouldn't try to harm me, so I'd quietly accepted the magic.
But judging from how panicked Philia looked at the very end, something had definitely gone wrong.
Judging by the sudden relocation to this remote place, she must have used a teleportation spell... but it failed?
Yet it was hard to chalk it up to a simple mistake. If she were truly an inexperienced person, maybe, but as a regressor, she wouldn't have used an unstable spell.
Then that means...
It was highly likely that another regressor—or someone else—had interfered with her magic.
And considering the girl's reaction in front of me, she appeared to be the culprit.
"Uuu. T-that's too mean..."
...She looks way too sloppy to be a regressor.
Beautiful blue hair. Small stature. A girl with clear green eyes. Given her rather distinctive appearance, her identity was probably...
"The kidnapper...?"
"K-kidnapper?! N-no...!"
Who is she?
No such character had appeared in the original story. There were magician heroines, but none with blue hair. Besides...
At this point in time, she looks much younger than the protagonist.
The girl before me looked more like a younger sister than an older one, so it couldn't be her.
Then who the hell was she?
Well, with even unknown divine beings popping up, a new character appearing isn't that strange.
"I-Ian. I'll e-explain everything..."
The girl was fumbling desperately to say something, but the problem was that none of her words reached me.
It must be because of the spell Philia cast on me earlier...
I looked at the girl and pointed at my own mouth, trying to indicate that my words weren't getting through at all.
"Could you perhaps fix this for me?"
I didn't know exactly what kind of spell it was, but since she had been able to interfere with Philia's magic, I figured she must be a considerable mage and asked her for help.
"Eh? Y-you want me to k-kiss you?"
Even when I tried to read her lips, she was mumbling so quietly that I couldn't make it out properly.
"Yes."
When I nodded roughly and stared intently at her lips, the girl jumped in surprise and said,
"O-oh, r-right...? B-but I-Ian, isn't this the f-first time you've seen me?"
When she asked again as if confirming, I nodded once more.
"Yes."
Not being able to speak is incredibly frustrating.
The spell needed to be lifted quickly so we could have a proper conversation.
"Th-then... d-did you fall in love with me at first sight, I-Ian?"
"Yes."
"Hehe, hehehe... Th-then it can't be helped..."
She slowly drew closer to me.
Is she actually going to help?
For someone who had just kidnapped me, she seemed surprisingly gentle...
Smooch—
"......?"
Our lips met.
The magician, upon regaining consciousness, immediately poured out words of resentment toward the man.
"Why? Why did you let me live?!"
At those words, the man raised his sword with an expressionless face. The sharp blade looked ready to sever the woman's neck at any moment.
"I-I don't want to die right now..."
Leaving the timidly speaking woman alone, the man looked over the various books stacked nearby.
The reason he had come here was not to save her.
It was the cornerstone for turning everything back.
To find magic related to time, the man had stepped into the 'lowest floor' of the Magic Tower.