Five Years Later (1)
Clang. Clang.
The sound of pickaxes rang out across the entire mountain.
In every mining pit, inmates were hard at work.
In only one place did voices replace the strike of steel on stone—the pit assigned to Ellen’s crew, who had already finished their quota at blistering speed.
“The warden’s ordered a room inspection,” Rev said, perched on a chunk of rock. “You’d better be careful, Ellen. You’ve got a lot of books, don’t you?”
“It’s not the first time. It doesn’t matter.”
Ellen didn’t even glance up. He was busy scratching something into the dirt floor.
“Easy for you to say. Don’t you ever get sick of it, though? How do you study without taking a single break?”
Rev tossed a pebble at him out of pure irritation.
Tock.
Without looking, Ellen swatted the stone aside.
“Keep interrupting and I’ll call Brady.”
“Sorry—anything but Brady, please.”
The mere mention of the name shut Rev up at once.
“You’re four years older than me. How have you not changed at all?”
“Ugh…”
Rev groaned under Ellen’s scolding.
“Interfering with Ellen’s training again, are you?”
The voice from behind froze Rev solid.
“I was only—”
“I distinctly told you not to disrupt Ellen’s practice. Five years, and you’re still the same.”
“I’m sorry, Brady.”
The speaker was Brady himself. To avoid drawing the guards’ suspicion, he made a habit of addressing Ellen casually in public.
“My apologies, Ellen. By the way—have you heard the news?”
Ellen never stopped working the formula into the ground. He was so close to solving it.
“It’s fine. What news are you talking about?”
Brady glanced toward the entrance, where a guard sat nodding off. Whether the man noticed the look or not, he showed no interest and kept dozing.
“The Gosen Empire has declared war on the Prode Kingdom.”
Scritch.
Thud.
Ellen set down the stick he had been using and rose to his feet.
“They kept the tension simmering forever, and it finally boiled over. Do you know anything about the situation on the front?”
“Not in detail, but it seems evenly matched for now. Gosen can’t throw every soldier at Prode—they’ve got neighboring countries to worry about.”
Pat. Pat.
Ellen dusted the dirt from his clothes.
“Brady, I think it’s time we started moving.”
“I’ll make ready.”
Five years.
Five years had passed since Ethan Gronlead’s escape.
When he first vanished, Enis had been thrown into chaos. A place that had never permitted a single breakout had been breached.
On Warden Gaia’s orders, a sweeping investigation of every inmate had followed. Guards tore through the cells and interrogated the prisoners one by one.
They had already sealed the entrance in the communal laundry right after Ethan’s flight, so the search turned up nothing. The guards never once considered the possibility that a prisoner might be capable of magic. In the end, they simply tightened surveillance and closed the matter.
Rumors later claimed Ethan was back at the Gronlead ducal house, but no one was bold enough to investigate a grand duke’s family directly.
Once the inquiry ended, Ellen spent every night training intensively in Proveng’s laboratory. With Brady’s help, he could throw himself into practice without worrying about the other inmates’ eyes.
—Reaching the Tower of Intellect is out of the question for now. Fill your mana with these in the meantime.
The laboratory held a fortune in top-grade elixirs. Swallowing them all at once would have ruptured every vessel in his body, so he took only what his frame could endure.
Beyond the elixirs, the shelves groaned with magical texts rarely seen even in the Magic Tower—books Ellen had never laid eyes on in his previous life. And this time he had a grand mage for a master.
—At this rate, you are a Fifth Circle master. Astonishingly swift growth. If not for that wretched magical talent of yours, you would have advanced even further.
Proveng had said as much only the night before. Had Ellen remained at the Academy, he would never have achieved this pace. Five years there would have left him a mere Fourth Circle mage.
The war has finally begun. Time to step into the light.
He had known war would break out in this era—the conflict between the Prode Kingdom and the Gosen Empire, the very first war Ellen had fought as a Magic Assistant.
I never wanted to set foot on a battlefield again… but I have no choice.
That night, three shadows appeared in the communal laundry.
“Gordon, this war will let us seize the momentum completely.”
Verdi bowed his head toward Ellen. Tears threatened to spill from his eyes at any moment.
“Please come back successful.”
“Once you’re gone, this place will be turned upside down again. Being interrogated for days is going to be a real pain.”
Rev shot Ellen a sidelong glance.
“You’ll be bored without anyone left to harass. I’ll be off, then.”
Rumble.
Ellen opened the floor of the communal laundry, revealing the tunnel beneath.
This direction now?
Until today the passage had always led to the laboratory. Tonight it would take him out of Enis entirely.
“Safe travels.”
With Verdi’s parting words, Ellen stepped into the tunnel.
A low murmur of voices filled the air.
“Come on, stock up on food before the war starts! Jerky, finest jerky!”
“Thick blankets—essential for evacuation!”
Merchants hawked their wares on every side, eager to convert the people’s fear into coin.
—To think we would return here. It has been a long time.
It has. We’re back in Harryford.
Ellen could now converse with Proveng inside his mind. The Lich had explained that the link strengthened as the contractor’s mana grew.
—Even so, it is far too loud.
Agreed. I haven’t heard this much racket in ages—it’s overwhelming. I’d better secure a room quickly.
Tinkle.
The inn he entered in search of lodging was just as packed.
“There’s a recruitment drive tomorrow, right?”
“Just get into a good unit. Earning merit in wartime is nothing.”
Everyone present had come to Harryford to enlist. In a rigidly stratified society, the only way for a commoner to leap upward in a single bound was to distinguish himself in battle.
Ellen was no different. To stand against the Chedleton family, he needed power. And the swiftest path to that power was glory on the battlefield.
“Do you have any rooms left? Money is no object.”
At Ellen’s words the innkeeper wiped damp hands on his apron and stepped out of the kitchen.
“Ah, yes. You’re in luck—exactly one room remaining.”
He pulled out a key and started to hand it over.
Snatch.
A large hand intercepted it midair.
“That room’s mine.”
A massive man twirled the key between his fingers. Ellen’s expression hardened at once.
“I’m sorry, but I was here first.”
The man turned and shoved his face close, scowling for all he was worth.
“Listen, kid. If you don’t want a beating, get lost and find somewhere else. This is where Lord Bon is staying.”