Reunion (3)
“You want to meet Ethan in person?”
“Yes. I made a personal request of him, so I wished to see him myself and confirm a few things.”
Reba’s head ached at Ellen’s words. Ethan was someone the family was protecting unofficially. Letting this boy meet him would be the same as admitting the family was sheltering a criminal.
“I understand the Young Lord’s concerns. The truth is, my parents are under Ethan’s protection. That’s why I want to see him.”
Reba’s expression eased a little.
A few years earlier, Ethan had contacted Reba through one of the family’s subordinate organizations in the capital. Both the family head, Lart, and Reba himself had been locked in a fierce power struggle with the Chedleton family at the time. When they had no strength left to spare for the man imprisoned on Enis, Ethan had escaped with someone’s help.
He asked us to protect someone in return… so that someone was this boy’s parents.
“Very well. I did hear that Ethan was obliged to protect someone’s parents. So that was you.”
“That’s correct.”
Scratch, scratch.
Reba drew out a pen and began writing on a sheet of paper. He wrote at some length, then took out a seal and stamped it at the bottom.
“Take this and head for the mountain you can see behind the mansion. The place where Ethan is staying is forbidden to everyone, so I can’t assign you a guide. Once you’re on the mountain, there will come a moment when you’ll need that paper.”
He held the document out to Ellen as he spoke.
“I’m grateful for the Young Lord’s consideration. I’ll make good use of this permit.”
“It’s only proper for someone who carries the family’s token. And come by now and then. I’ll make time for you.”
Reba had taken a strong liking to Ellen—not merely for his skill or renown. The air the boy carried was different. He intended to nurture the acquaintance and gradually draw him into his own faction.
“I’ll visit often. When I do, it would be good to talk about magic as well.”
“That would be excellent. Off you go, then.”
Escorted out by Reba, Ellen stepped beyond the mansion and looked up at the great mountain rising behind it. It was the mountain where the Gronlead family went hunting for sport and where servants gathered wood and medicinal herbs. Because people came and went so often, the paths were well kept and easy to walk.
Those he passed along the way, assuming he was a new member of the Gronlead household, bowed their heads in greeting.
And Ethan is supposed to be hiding here?
Ellen found it hard to believe that Ethan would be concealed on a mountain so full of people.
A little farther in stood a single building—a rest stop for Gronlead hunters. Turn right here, he said.
Ellen followed Reba’s directions and veered off to the right. There was no path at all.
“Hah…”
A sigh escaped him the moment he saw the way ahead. Dense trees and grass grown to the knee waited for him. He slipped into the undergrowth carefully so as not to be noticed.
If it were up to me, I’d burn the whole lot or cut it down.
Ellen grumbled as he shoved aside the trees blocking his path. He walked for a long while without a single building coming into view. Still, he could hardly go about damaging a ducal family’s mountain.
How much farther do I have to go?
He was nearing his limit when a chill ran up his spine.
Whiiish.
Thud.
He threw himself sideways. The sudden dive cost him his balance, and he rolled across the dirt. An arrow stood quivering in the spot he had just occupied.
“Who the hell—”
The words never finished. Another arrow came flying right after the first.
Shield.
Crack.
This time he had sensed the attack. He blocked the arrow with a shield spell.
“I don’t know who you are, but—”
Whiiish.
He decided further conversation was pointless. His opponent clearly had no intention of talking. Against someone like that, force was the only answer.
I’ll subdue him first, then shove the permit in his face.
Shield. Detect.
Ellen knocked the incoming arrows aside with his shield. They shattered on impact. At the same time he used Detect magic to pinpoint the attacker’s location.
There you are. Bind.
Strands of mana shot forward at high speed. He could not see the man directly, but Detect let him track every movement. The man did not so much as twitch.
Got him.
Whoosh.
What?
The Bind spell was a hair’s breadth from seizing him when, in the blink of an eye, the man simply vanished.
Boom.
Air exploded behind Ellen. Instinct told him this attack was different from the others.
Barrier.
Sizzle.
KRA-KOOM.
The dust settled. The arrow had punched clean through one of the two layers of barrier. If he had not cast the double barrier, he would have been in real danger. It was an arrow wrapped in aura.
That a 4th Circle barrier had broken so easily meant the man was at least an upper-rank Sword Expert.
Fine. You want a real fight? Shackle.
Ellen unleashed a 5th Circle binding spell.
“Damn it.”
The man who had been attacking him saw the manacles form at his feet and leapt upward in haste. The moment his feet touched the ground again, another set of shackles reached for him.
Dig.
Crrrack.
Just as he was about to jump, the tree he was standing on collapsed. His center of gravity gone, he toppled.
Clack.
At last the manacles locked around his ankles. They shifted shape in an instant, wrapping his entire body in restraints.
“Finally got you.”
Ellen walked over. The man did not thrash or struggle. He simply glared.
Hair and eye color say he’s not a Gronlead. Which means…
Thud.
Certain of his conclusion, Ellen drove a fist into the back of the man’s head. The blow was solid enough that the man’s body jerked.
“Where’d you learn to attack people without a word?”
Thud.
“Ghk.”
A groan escaped the lips the man had kept clamped shut.
“Looks like you’re employed by the Gronlead family, so I won’t kill you. But you still have to pay for this.”
Thud. Thud.
“This is a restricted area. No one may enter except the Duke and the Young Lord.”
Only then did the man open his mouth. His voice was thick with wariness.
“I know. That’s why I brought this. Shouldn’t you listen first before you start shooting?”
Ellen shoved the permit Reba had given him into the man’s face.
“Ahem… my apologies.”
“Apologies, is it… Right.”
Thud, thud, thud.
“Guh—”
“We’ll stop just short of killing you.”
“From the moment I failed my duty, I was already as good as dead.”
Ellen shook his head at the man’s complete lack of flexibility.
“Haa. Fine. Look, I’ve got a permit right here.”
“Then I will apologize once more.”
Ellen half wanted to beat him half to death. But the man was employed by the ducal house, and more importantly, he was the only one who knew where Ethan was.
“So where can I meet Lord Ethan Gronlead, the man you’re guarding?”
At those words the man’s expression shifted slightly. Then he recalled Reba’s permit and gave a small nod to himself.
“I protect Lord Ethan Gronlead by the Duke’s command. Since you hold the Young Lord’s permit, I will guide you myself.”
Shrrk.
Ellen released the Shackle spell. The moment the magic binding his whole body vanished, the man rose at once.
“This way.”
He moved as though nothing had happened.
Something about him doesn’t seem quite right.
Feeling an odd unease, Ellen followed.
“By the way, your movements earlier were a little strange.”
Ellen spoke as he walked behind the man. When he had first cast Bind, the man had not moved at all—until the instant the spell should have hit, when he suddenly disappeared. Ellen had seen that kind of movement before.
“It is a technique I learned from my master.”
“Isn’t that Flash Step?”
“How do you know that name?”
The man spun around in surprise. He had never expected the technique’s name to come from Ellen’s mouth.
Ellen merely shrugged.
“I saw someone use it once.”
The man suddenly seized Ellen’s hands—so fast it might have been Flash Step itself.
“Have you met my master? Where did you see him?”
His eyes shone with hope.
So he had a disciple?
Ellen thought back to the mercenary he had met in his previous life—the one who had taught him magical martial arts. The technique the man had demonstrated a time or two had been Flash Step.
I always regretted never learning the martial arts properly. This works out well. He seems to be looking for his master, too.
“Unfortunately I only saw him in passing.”
“Where was it?”
Ellen searched his memory and recalled the place they had first met.
“Tonton.”
“Thank you. I will repay this debt.”
The man clasped both of Ellen’s hands tightly.
If this man is a disciple, he’ll have some clue to the master’s whereabouts.
Even when Ellen had learned the techniques, he had known the man was no ordinary fighter. Looking back now, he had been far greater still. Until today Ellen had had no lead at all.
“All right, all right. Just take me to Lord Gronlead already.”
“No need to worry. We’re already here.”
Ellen’s gaze followed the man’s. At the end of it stood a building—not far at all from the place they had fought.
My parents are in there…
Ellen hurried toward it.
“Lord Ethan is away training at the moment, so wait a little.”
“It’s fine. He’s not the one I came to see.”
Ellen all but ran for the building. These were the first parents he had seen since entering the Academy. He wanted not only to ask after them, but to show them he was alive and well.
“Ah.”
Two figures were working in the vegetable garden in front of the building. Ellen’s parents.
“Excuse me.”
Ellen spoke carefully. The two who had been tending the crops looked up.
“Who might you be? Have you come to see Lord Ethan? He’s out training right now, so you’ll have to wait a bit.”
Maria rose from her crouch. Seeing her healthy and well, Ellen knew Ethan had kept his promise.
“You don’t recognize me?”
“We’re terribly sorry for failing to know you. Please forgive us.”
Sien and Maria hastily bowed their heads, certain they had offended a noble.
“Father, Mother. It’s me—Ellen.”
Maria and Sien tilted their heads. In the same breath they recognized the face of the boy standing before them—the child whose safety they had fretted over every single day.
“Ellen!”
Maria threw her arms around him and held him tight.